You are probably aware of Steve Jobs’ recent announcement according to which he will take a break from his duties as Apple’s CEO until the end of June in order to allow himself to focus on his health and allow Apple to focus on "delivering extraordinary products."

The news came after Jobs revealed that he has a hormonal imbalance that has caused him to lose weight. Reuters claims that Jobs's pancreatic cancer may have recurred even although the doctors who it found admitted they can only speculate without hard information.

Despite his leave from Apple, however, Disney is recommending he be re-elected to serve on its board of directors in its 2009 proxy statement to shareholders. Jobs became the largest single shareholder at Disney after Disney's purchase of Pixar Animation Studios in 2006, with his 50.6 percent controlling stake. The Apple co-founder receives no compensate for his role at Disney, where he's also believed to serve as a special advisor to chief executive and close personal friend Bob Iger on technology-related matters.

Jobs said in his letter last week that “as CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out." On Thursday, Bloomberg reporters Connie Guglielmo, Rochelle Garner and Jason Gale wrote that Jobs could be facing surgery to remove what’s left of his pancreas, quoting a doctor in Australia who hasn’t treated Jobs and doesn’t know details of his condition.

Apple shares fell seven percent after the announcement regarding his temporary leave. Moreover the total industry has not being shinning very brightly. Over the past six months Apple is down 53% and Microsoft is down 28%. Even with Steve at the head of the class, its performance has been dramatically affected by the economic situation.