Apple shares rise to 53-week high on hot air and rumours

Big, fat rumour round up: iPhone nano, touchscreen iPod, super-slim MacBook and more

11 July 2007 18:29 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Apple's shares traded as high as $134.50 on Tuesday morning, overtaking the previous 52-week high of $133.34 from the Friday before.

Apple stock was already at rather healthy levels having risen around 40% in and around the period of the iPhone's much hyped launch.

This dramatic rise was created without one word from Apple, who are famous for not commenting on future products and not responding to rumours.

It was simply down to old fashioned speculation and industry whispers made instantly available to all by the internet.

The first rumour began with a JP Morgan analyst in Taiwan claiming in a report that Apple would be launching an iPhone nano by the end of the year.

Tech news sites and traditional news sources, such as Reuters, picked the story up and ran with it - resulting in over 20,000 web postings on the subject.

This particular rumour has since been refuted by another JP Morgan analyst who says that although a lower priced iPhone will come, it won't be any time soon.

Just as soon as one Apple-flavoured rumour is knocked back, there's another to take its place.

Today brought leaked news that Taiwanese company Wintek is providing the touchscreen panel for Apple’s new sixth gen completely touchscreen iPod (similar to the design of the iPhone) that will possibly run OS X, due out in August.

If you haven't got a new rumour, then recycle an old one - "trusted sources" informed one Mac blog that Apple is about to release a new addition to its MacBook range.

This new product is described as an ultra, ultra thin and lightweight 12-inch portable MacBook so super that "it could redefine the standards of ultra-portable computing".

This brief round up doesn't even take into account the recent friend-of-a-friend "sighting" of an iPhone running on the 02 mobile network or supposed major software upgrades for the iPhone (said to be due when Leopard is released) enabling the missing cut and paste functions and disk mode.

Oh, and there's also the fact that Steve Jobs is currently in London, where a mysterious "special event" on Monday is due to close part of the Regent Street Apple store renewing rumours that a European operator partner will soon be announced.

Apple is no stranger to the effects of news on the stock-market. Earlier this year a faked memo posted by an American tech blog stated that the iPhone and Leopard were going to be delayed which saw $4 billion wiped off the company value in a matter of minutes.

Apple must be relieved that the rumours doing the rounds this time around are all positive, and about shiny new products and exciting news ... for now, at least.