Apple reportedly has no succession plan in place so those investors are anxious it seems...

....Concerns about Steve Jobs' health aren't going away. Today's NY Post quotes a "Wall Street source" who says hedge fund managers are still freaked out after seeing Jobs' rail-thin appearance at the iPhone launch event last month. It also cites "multiple sources" who've met Steve in recent weeks and are "troubled by his thin appearance." Reuters has now picked up the Post's story; the wire service doesn't add anything to the report, but the fact that it is repeating it gives it extra weight.

We've now heard a couple of explanations for Steve's gaunt frame at the WWDC conference: Some reports suggest that it's a side effect of a treatment for the pancreatic cancer he suffered in 2003. Apple itself said that Steve was sick prior to WWDC, and was on antibiotics at the time of his presentation.

We'll take Apple at its word: Steve is OK......

http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/7/steve-jobs-health-worries-won-t-go-away-time-for-a-succession-plan-aapl-

I don't think this will go away until Jobs says something himself.....

The same thing is happening here. Idle, speculative and uninformed talk is feeding fear uncertainty and doubt, that is not worth serious consideration. Even so, given what’s publicly known about Jobs’ medical history, questions about the condition of his health are certainly fair to ask

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Since Jobs’ ability to do his job would logically be affected if his health took a turn for the worse, and since his role is unique at Apple and when compared to other CEOs in his peer group, that makes his health a material issue about which investors have a legitimate right to be concerned over the long term. The compensation committee has the right and the duty to ask Jobs directly if there is any reason, be it related to his health or for that matter anything else, that might cause him to be unable to do his job in the foreseeable future. It’s a reasonable and prudent question, and he has the duty to answer them honestly.

 

Once this conversation has taken place — behind closed doors — the board can and should say two things: First, that it has discussed health matters with the CEO; And second, presuming that this is the case, that it has no concerns about his ability to carry out his duties. That’s it.

 http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2008/07/the_real_issue.html