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SAN FRANCISCO — As stocks in the United States tumbled Monday morning after another sell-off in China, Timothy D. Cook, the chief executive of Apple, took an unusual step to put investors at ease: He emailed Jim Cramer, the television host of CNBC’s “Mad Money.”
旧金山——中国股市出现另一波抛售行情之后，美国股票也在周一上午纷纷下跌，然后苹果公司(Apple)的首席执行官蒂莫西·D·库克(Timothy D. Cook)采取了一个不同寻常的举动来让投资者安心：他向CNBC电视节目“疯狂金钱”(Mad Money)的主持人吉姆·克拉默(Jim Cramer)发了一封电邮。
In the email, Mr. Cook said iPhone activations had accelerated recently, and that Apple’s App Store in China had its best performance of the year in the last two weeks.
库克在电邮中说，iPhone的激活最近加快了，过去两周里，苹果应用商店App Store在中国也取得了全年最佳业绩。
“I get updates on our performance in China every day, including this morning, and I can tell you that we have continued to experience strong growth for our business in China through July and August,” Mr. Cook said in the email to Mr. Cramer. “Obviously I can’t predict the future, but our performance so far this quarter is reassuring.”
“我每天都能看到苹果在中国的最新业绩，今天早上当然也是如此。我可以告诉你，7月份和8月份，苹果在中国的业务保持了强劲增长，”库克在电邮中告诉克拉默。“很显然我不能预测未来，但我们本季度迄今为止的表现，相当让人安心。”
The email seemed to ease the minds of some investors. After falling about 10 percent when the markets opened, shares of Apple recouped their losses and even entered positive territory. By the end of the day, shares were 2.5 percent lower.
这封电邮似乎安抚了一些投资者。在开盘下跌约10%后，苹果的股价开始收复失地，甚至还一度由跌转涨。收盘时苹果跌幅为2.5%。
Jan Dawson, an independent technology analyst for Jackdaw Research, said Apple’s stock had taken a beating largely because of growing concerns about China. A simple solution was to send signals of positive performance in China to Mr. Cramer, he said.
穴鸟研究公司(Jackdaw Research)的独立科技分析师简·道森(Jan Dawson)表示，苹果的股价受到冲击，主要是由于市场对中国经济形势的担忧加剧了。把公司在中国表现出色的正面信号传递给克拉默，是一个简单的解决办法，他说。
“I’m sure Cook was well aware that Cramer would share it with his viewers and it would therefore quickly become public,” Mr. Dawson said. “Apple stock has certainly risen sharply since the email was made public, so it’s arguable that it worked.”
“我敢肯定，库克非常清楚克拉默会向观众分享这份邮件，因此消息很快就会公之于众，”道森说。“自从该电邮公开之后，苹果公司的股票确实出现了大幅回升，所以可以说这个行动奏效了。”
Mr. Cramer is the co-manager of a charitable trust portfolio, Action Alerts Plus, which holds shares of Apple.
克拉默是公益信托投资组合Action Alerts Plus的共同管理人，组合中包含苹果股票。
Mr. Cramer said in an interview that he decided to try contacting Mr. Cook after a company called Skyworks Solutions, a chip supplier for Apple, appeared on “Mad Money” last week. Skyworks had said on the show that its sales were strong in China, but its stock plummeted afterward anyway. That made Mr. Cramer curious about what Mr. Cook would have to say about iPhone sales in China. He sent the email to the Apple chief Sunday evening.
克拉默在接受采访时说，他之所以决定与苹果联系，是因为上周有一家名为Skyworks Solutions的苹果芯片供应商上了“疯狂金钱”节目。该公司在节目中表示，自己在中国的销售势头很强劲，可是之后它的股价还是出现了大幅下挫。克拉默开始好奇，对于iPhone在中国的销售形势，库克会说些什么。于是在周日晚上，他向库克发了一封电邮。
His letter read: “Dear Tim, Just trying to do my best to cover Apple, as always, and I keep running up against ‘China fears’ and ‘China worries.’ We are in a tough moment in the market, and any clarity I might be able to get before Squawk on the Street at 9 Eastern would really help.”
他在信中写道：“亲爱的蒂姆，我写信是为了尽我所能地报道苹果的情况，就像我一直以来所做的那样。现在我总是遇到有人‘害怕’、‘担心’中国的形势。眼下我们的市场状况很糟，如果你能进行一些澄清，让我在东部时间9点的‘华尔街直播室’(Squawk on the Street)里谈论一下，真的会很有帮助。”
Mr. Cook, who is known for being an early riser, sent his reply around 8 a.m. on Monday — 5 a.m. in California, where he lives.
库克一向起得很早，他在周一早8点左右回复了电邮——在他居住生活的美国加州，那时还是凌晨5点。
Mr. Cramer said he was surprised to get a response. In March, the Apple chief called in to "Mad Money" to congratulate Mr. Cramer on the 10th anniversary of the show. Beyond that, Mr. Cramer said he had not cultivated a personal relationship with Mr. Cook, though the TV host noted he had long been an advocate for holding on to the Cupertino, Calif., company’s stock.
克拉默说，收到回复出乎他的意料。今年3月，库克曾致电“疯狂金钱”，祝贺克拉默的这个节目诞生10周年。但克拉默说，除此之外，自己和库克没有私交，尽管他长期主张持有苹果股票。
“I’ve been a stalwart in saying, ‘Don’t trade Apple,’ ” he said. “I think it’s a mistake to trade it. I think you should own it.”
“我一直坚定不移地劝说大家，不要卖掉苹果的股票，”他说。“我觉得卖掉是个错误，你应该持有。”
China has become an increasingly important market for Apple. The company’s growth has slowed over the last few years in mature markets like the United States and parts of Europe, where the smartphone market has become saturated. China, however, remains a huge untapped market where plenty of people are still buying smartphones for the first time.
中国市场对于苹果的重要性与日俱增。在美国和欧洲一些国家的成熟市场，随着智能手机市场趋于饱和，苹果的增速在过去的几年里有所放缓。然而中国却是一个尚未开发的巨大市场，很多人仍是第一次购买智能手机。
Apple has long laid the groundwork to reap big sales in China, and revenue growth from the region has steadily gained momentum. The company in late 2013 struck an important deal to sell iPhones through China Mobile, the world’s largest phone carrier. Apple is also expanding its operations in the region, planning to increase its number of stores to 40 by mid-2016.
长期以来，苹果为在中国大卖奠定了基础。该地区营收的增长趋势一直很稳定。2013年底，苹果公司达成了一项重要的协议，通过全世界最大的移动电话运营商中国移动销售iPhone。苹果也在扩大该地区的业务规模，计划到2016年中期，让店铺数量增加到40家。
Some analysts have raised questions about whether Apple, the most valuable company in the world by market capitalization, can maintain its overall torrid pace of growth. Shares in the company are up about 45 percent in the last two years. But in the last six months, the stock has fallen over 18 percent.
一些分析人士质疑，作为全世界市值最高的公司，苹果迅猛的总体增速能否持续下去。过去两年间，苹果公司的股价上涨大约45%，但在过去六个月里，该公司的股价下跌逾18%。
Mr. Cook also wrote to Mr. Cramer that he continued to believe “that China represents an unprecedented opportunity over the long term.”
库克还在信中对克拉默说，他依然相信“从长期来看，中国代表着一个史无前例的机遇”。
Unlike his predecessor, Steven P. Jobs, Mr. Cook has been increasingly outspoken about a number of matters, including his views on civil rights, his sexual orientation and his concern for the environment. Aside from during quarterly earnings calls and major company events, though, he has generally been tight-lipped about sales and other financial figures.
不同于前任史蒂夫·P·乔布斯(Steven P. Jobs)，库克在很多事情上越来越坦率，包括他对民权问题的看法、他的性取向，以及他对环境的担忧。但除了每季度的财报会议和公司的重要活动外，他总体上对销售额和其他财务数据闭口不谈。
On Monday, some regulatory experts raised concerns about whether Mr. Cook’s email to Mr. Cramer had violated the Securities and Exchange Commission’s fair disclosure regulations. The rules, commonly known as Reg F.D., requires companies to share material information to all investors at the same time.
周一当天，一些证券监管专家对于库克写给克拉默的电子邮件提出了疑问，因为这样做或许违反了美国证券交易委员会（Securities and Exchange Commission，简称SEC）的公平披露规则。通常简称为Reg FD的相关规定，要求企业同时向所有投资者分享重大信息。
In previous financial earnings calls, Apple had said it was bullish about its strong, long-term growth in China. But the S.E.C. has signaled that reaffirmation of financial guidance, in some contexts, could even lead to a full-disclosure violation, according to Thomas A. Sporkin, a partner for Buckley Sandler and a former S.E.C. enforcement official. In 2005, the commission charged the Flowserve Corporation, a manufacturer, with violating Reg F.D. for reiterating its guidance to a group of analysts before sharing the same information with the public.
在之前的财报会议中，苹果曾表示对在中国实现强劲的长期增长持乐观态度。但据巴克利桑德勒(Buckley Sandler)合伙人、SEC前执法官员托马斯·A·斯波金(Thomas A. Sporkin)介绍，SEC发出的信号表明，在某些情况下，重申企业的财务表现，也可能属于全面违反了涉及披露的规则。2005年，SEC指控制造业企业福斯公司(Flowserve Corporation)违反了公平披露规则，因为该公司是在对一群分析人士重申自己的业绩之后，才向公众披露同一信息的。
Mr. Cook’s reaffirmation to Mr. Cramer of Apple’s performance in China was softer and more generalized than when Flowserve shared specific numbers, Mr. Sporkin said. But he added that it was unclear whether Mr. Cramer could have a different interpretation of the email based on his relationship with Mr. Cook.
斯波金称，福斯当时透露了具体数字，相比之下，库克向克拉默重申苹果在中国的表现时，措辞更温和，也更笼统。但他接着表示，尚不清楚克拉默是否会基于他与库克的关系，而对这封邮件有不同的解读。
Apple, CNBC and the S.E.C. declined to comment. In response to questions raised about potential violations of the S.E.C.’s disclosure rules, Mr. Cramer would only say: “I got what I got. I got an email from Tim Cook.”
苹果、CNBC和SEC拒绝置评。在被问到违反SEC披露规则的可能性时，克拉默只是回答：“我是收到了。我收到了蒂姆·库克发来的电子邮件。”
Bill Singer, a regulatory lawyer, said he expected the S.E.C. to investigate the context of the email and provide guidelines as to whether companies can disclose financial information this way to selected news reporters.
监管领域的律师比尔·辛格(Bill Singer)表示，他预计SEC会调查邮件的来龙去脉，并发布指导意见，阐述企业是否能以这种方式，向特定的新闻记者披露财务信息。
“I can see here that Cook is literally dancing on the edge of a razor,” he said. “At the end of the day it’s one of the largest companies in the world telling one reporter via a private email that our ongoing quarter is actually going to surprise people, and I consider that material.”
“在这件事上，我感觉库克是在刀尖上跳舞，”他说。“说到底，一家规模在全世界数一数二的公司，通过私人电子邮件告诉了一名记者，我们目前这一季度的业绩真的会让人们吃惊。我认为，这属于重大消息。”
