After rumors that Apple was scaling back production of the iPhone surfaced on Tuesday, the companyis stock took a sharp nose dive and dropped about US$9. Unfortunately for investor pocketbooks, that rumor turned out to be unfounded, according to CNBC.

TheStreet.com cited a report from the analyst firm Miller Tabak & Co., but now the company has stated that it issued no such news. Peter Boockvar, a trader at the firm, commented "We werenit issuing any kind of report. We donit have an Apple analyst."

Despite the inability to confirm that the rumor was false, investors took it as fact, driving Appleis stock down and cutting $8 billion off the companyis market cap.

Apple faced a similar situation earlier this year when a rumor surfaced that the company was delaying the iPhone launch for an additional six months. That rumor also turned out to be false, but the companyis stock dropped several points before the information was corrected.

The Mac and iPod makeris stock still hasnit recovered from yesterdayis shakeup. Apple is currently trading at $129.85, down 1.91 (1.45%).

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