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Comment by finnh | Hacker News Reader

Icahn wouldn't be above sending a tweet like that to raise the price before unloading shares. His goal is to maximize his return, not that of his twitter followers.

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What I find interesting is Icahn filed a press release yesterday, basically telegraphing his intention to post juicy bits like this to Twitter:

  NEW YORK, Aug. 12, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) [..]
  
  Our Chairman, Carl C. Icahn, intends to
  use Twitter from time to time to communicate
  with the public about our company and other
  issues.
  
  [..]
 
  It is possible that the information that Mr.
  Icahn posts on Twitter [..] could be deemed
  to be material information.

Source: http://www.ielp.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=784592

I kind of doubt blowing his credibility with a pump-and-dump is part of his long-term plan for maximizing his return.

I'm not saying it's a pump-and-dump. What I am saying is that Icahn (and others like him) are very careful to hide their purchases from the market while they are still purchasing, in order to prevent their own purchases from unduly raising the price.

If anything, Icahn's tweet signals that he is no longer purchasing AAPL in quantity. Now he wants the market to "catch up" to his value appraisal so he can realize a gain.

So... it's a pump-and-dump.

It's more likely to be a pump-and-keep, given his history.

And he's not even trying to hide it. "We currently have a large position". That means no longer purchasing, it has been done.

Anyone interested in the backstory of this sort of thing might find this brief article on Icahn's "$2,000 Tweet" interesting.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mariahsummers/if-you-want-to-be-a-tw...

You're suggesting that Icahn is trying to pump and dump one of the largest companies on the planet? Investment isn't one of your better skills is it?

Wow, hostile! See my response to this same question when it was more gently expressed by 'hamburglar.

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