Facebook Gold Rush: Fanfare vs. Realities

IT’S an old line on Wall Street: If you can get your hands on a hot new stock, you probably don’t want it. This bit of Street wisdom came to mind last week, as Facebook went public amid so much fanfare. The stock eked out a 23-cent gain on its Day 1, to $ 38.23. [...]

 

Bono’s investment firm rocks Facebook IPO to the tune of $1.5 billion

??????Bono, U2′s lead singer and rocker-in-chief, has a reason to break out in song today: his investment in Facebook could make him one of the richest musicians on the planet, potentially eclipsing Paul McCartney, depending on how the social network’s stock performs after its first day of trading Friday. The musician, however, demurred when asked about how [...]

 

Facebook underwriters prop up stock as it nears break-even mark

NEW YORK – The big pop in Facebook Inc. shares never came. Buyers did not rush into the market to snap up shares of the social networker. And the big Wall Street banks that brought Facebook public scrambled to prevent the stock from collapsing into declines. The underwriters averted a potential debacle by scooping up shares of [...]

 

Joe Ricketts, a wealthy donor, getting attention in presidential contest

First it was Sheldon Adelson, a casino mogul who helped finance Newt Gingrich’s presidential ambitions. Then it was Foster Friess, a multimillionaire with the propensity for off-color jokes who threw his money behind Rick Santorum. The latest wealthy businessman to grab headlines in this year’s presidential contest is someone less splashy, who made a splash [...]

 

US eases investment ban on Burma

The Obama administration will ease restrictions on U.S. investment in Burma, its latest and furthest-reaching step yet to encourage the long-isolated country’s reforms during the past year. The policy change — announced Thursday afternoon after a meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Burma’s foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin — includes some safeguards [...]

 

Facebook IPO: Who Is Selling Stock?

Facebook Inc. is selling 180 million of its shares in its initial public offering. Another 241. 2 million are coming from existing stockholders, including the company’s earliest investors and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Even after the IPO, Zuckerberg will remain Facebook’s single largest shareholder. And he will control the company with 56 percent of its voting [...]

 

Facebook IPO boosts wealth in Silicon Valley

SAN FRANCISCO – Silicon Valley is once again flush with nouveau riche after a wave of tech IPOs that will be eclipsed by Facebook’s. USA TODAY A recent crop of tech IPOs, Facebook’s being the latest, is creating a new wave of nouveau riche in Silicon Valley. USA TODAY A recent crop of tech IPOs, [...]

 

Indian Stock Futures Slump on Greek Vote, Debt Concerns

India’s stock-index futures fell as talks to form a new Greek government failed, threatening pledged spending cuts required to secure bailouts and ease the country’s debt crisis. SGX S&P CNX Nifty Index futures for May delivery declined 1.3 percent to 4,869.5 at 10:12 a.m. in Singapore. The underlying S&P CNX Nifty (NIFTY) Index on the [...]

 

JPMorgan investment unit played by different high-risk rules

Security guards stand watch outside the JP Morgan Chase & Co annual shareholders meeting at the bank’s back-office complex in Tampa, Florida, May 15, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Steve Nesius By Matt Scuffham and Edward Taylor LONDON/FRANKFURT | Wed May 16, 2012 6:18am EDT LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The JPMorgan Chase & Co. unit that lost more than [...]

 

Higher taxes on wealthy unite Democrats

Even with signs of an economic recovery feeding optimism about President Obama’s reelection chances, congressional Democrats continue to run highly individual reelection campaigns independent of the president’s record and agenda. Except on the issue of higher taxes for the wealthy, where they appear solidly unified across the political spectrum. After many months of fighting over [...]