Options questions shift to the bored (sic)

We’d really really hoped that we’d seen the tail end of the whole “options backdating” brouhaha. Alas, it was not to be. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that attention is now being shifted from the executive team to the board of directors, who, as you may remember, issued a strongly worded statement backing Jobs.

And Anderson is not alone in his criticism of the Apple board. Institutional Shareholder Services — a respected firm that advises shareholders on how they should vote on proxy issues — counseled investors last week to withhold their support for all Apple board members except Jobs at the company’s shareholder meeting next week because of the “secretiveness” and “lack of candor” that have shrouded the backdating imbroglio. Meanwhile, the company is fighting off a shareholder lawsuit that alleges the board knew about the backdating scheme.

So, is this a matter of the board knowing which side its bread is buttered on (hint: the Steve Jobs side), or were they really unaware of the whole fiasco? Third option: given that the SEC hasn’t charged anybody on Apple’s board, is this just making hay? As much as we’d all like to see some corporate responsibility, I’m going to have to say “show me the money” on this one. All we’ve got thus far is hearsay and supposition.

In related news of the financial variety: Apple’s stock is now trading over $100 a share for the first time.