Apple chief executive Steve Jobs sent an e-mail to employees to reassure them that Apple investors will soon recoup their losses, and more, according to a report in AppleInsider.com. "As you can see, we have outperformed many other blue-chip tech companies, including Google," he said. "I continue to believe that our fundamentals -- our remarkable people, our clear and focused strategy, our new product pipeline, our 200+ retail stores, our $18 billion of cash in the bank with no debt, etc., will serve us well in the coming months and years."

"Wow ... what a remarkable last few days," he wrote in an e-mail to employees, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider. "Our stock is being buffeted around by factors a lot larger than ourselves." Jobs, whose 5.54 million shares make him the single largest shareholder in Apple behind Fidelity Investments, was among the hardest hit by Wall Street's recent sell-off, with losses in company shares alone totaling an estimated $377.5 million on paper since the start of the new year.

In one of Wall Street's weirdest turns, Apple stock plunged Jan. 22 -- after Apple reported record quarterly earnings, with revenue of $9.6 billion, net quarterly profit of $1.76 per diluted share, beating estimates slightly. Apple's stock price closed at $155.64 on Jan. 22, opened at $136.19 on Jan. 23, and as I type this, Yahoo Finance is reporting Apple's stock last traded at $131.84.

MacUser provides perspective and analysis: Jobs's behavior is typical; CEOs routinely send out e-mails to employees when their stock prices take a hit. While the AppleInsider article says that Jobs intended to reassure investors, in fact, says MacUser, Jobs had one investor in mind: "He's sad for the one investor that matters, him."