Apple Inc (AAPL)

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09:25 AAPL 'Timely' grants at Apple, Pixar could haunt Jobs - San Francisco Chronicle (68.75 )

San Francisco Chronicle reports if chief executive Steve Jobs were to be personally implicated in the options irregularities the co is investigating, Apple and its stock price would surely suffer, at least in the short run. A Jobs departure would overshadow any financial restatements the co makes.

Despite his reputation as a hands-on manager, investors and most analysts seem to think there is little chance Jobs was involved in any options problems at Apple. But analyst Richard Farmer of Merrill Lynch says he can't rule out the possibility that Jobs was involved in options backdating at Pixar. If Jobs was involved, it could jeopardize his role at Apple, Farmer says in a research report.

He says the key question for investors "is whether he knowingly participated in creating option irregularities (at either Apple or Pixar) in a way that constitutes serious direct personal misconduct, which could lead the SEC to take legal action against him, including potentially barring his ability to serve as a director, officer, or financial reporting executive of any public company, including Apple."