These are stories Report on Business is following Monday, May 21, 2012. Get the top business stories through the day on BlackBerry or iPhone by bookmarking our mobile-friendly webpage.
Follow Michael Babad and Globe top business news on Twitter
Investors dump Facebook Shares of Facebook Inc. plunged well below their IPO price today on the first full day of trading.
The stock bounced around in pre-market action, at first climbing slightly and then easing, followed by a thump when Nasdaq opened.
The disappointing move followed the social network's market debut on Friday, amid a technical glitch that prompted a rare apology from Nasdaq and a change in procedure for IPO trading.
Trading was delayed Friday, though the stock then popped up, only to fall again to just above the initial public offering price of $38 (U.S.) a share. Today, it's well down from the $45 it reached in the early going Friday.
Reports today suggest institutional buyers sold at above the $38 price Friday.
"What everyone seemed to ignore was the fact that this deal brought almost 500 million shares to the public market," NYSE floor broker Kenneth Polcari said in a note to traders, according to Bloomberg. "Who exactly was going to bring so much demand as to cause the price to double on the opening trade?"
The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into the glitch, which Nasdaq chief Bob Greifield said yesterday was an embarrassment for the tech-heavy exchange.
"This was not our finest hour," Mr. Greifield said, citing a technical glitch that resulted in faulty orders.
Underwriters had to go in and support the stock at its IPO price, but the shares lost that support today.
"At the moment it's not living up to the hype," Frank Lesh, a futures analyst and broker at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago told Reuters.
Some buyers may have held off, buying instead as it sank.
"Look at the valuation on it," he told the news agency. "It might have said 'buy' to a few people, but boy it was awfully rich."
These have been a whirwind few days for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who took the company public on Friday and then staged a surprise wedding to college sweetheart Priscilla Chan the next day.
- David Milstead's Market Blog: Time for Facebook buyer's remorse?
- Nasdaq alters IPO procedures after Facebook glitch
- Nasdaq 'embarrassed' over Facebook IPO
- Facebook's flat debut puts social media firms under miscroscope
Markets on rise There's no trading in Canada today because of a public holiday, but other markets are starting the week of with a bit of juice as the angst of last week eases.
Nothing has changed - leaders of the G8 failed at their meeting to do anything concrete - but the mood is still a bit brighter.
"A new week means a new start, and it seems investors are quite content to put last week's conniptions behind them," said sales trader Yusuf Heusen of IG Index.
"There might have been nothing of note from the G8 meeting over the weekend, but at least the world's leaders made the right noises about Greece staying in the euro. There has been no news from the euro zone's problem child, so for the moment at least everyone is content to put Greece to the back of their mind."
Tokyo's Nikkei gained 0.3 per cent, though Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.3 per cent.
European stocks rose, followed in North America by the S&P 500 and Dow Jones industrial average .
"The G8 meeting delivered nothing of note for markets, beyond a little predictable disappointment," said Kit Juckes, the chief of foreign exchange at Société Générale.
"Pressure for more pro-growth strategies from Germany isn't getting anywhere and anyway, the crisis has moved on. With four more weeks until the Greek elections, uncertainty is huge even if markets are pretty quiet," he said in a research note.
"So far, although money is flowing out of Greek banks, it is best described as a 'bank jog' rather than a bank run. Preventing an acceleration which could bring matters to a head and preventing contagion from Greece to other countries in Europe, is critical. So is preventing further dramatic widening in peripheral bond markets' spreads. Absent bolder policy moves, sentiment will deteriorate."
Barclays sells BlackRock stake Barclays PLC is ridding itself of its stake in BlackRock Inc., raising cash to boost its fortunes and offset the impact of new banking ragulations.
The big British bank holds almost 20 per cent of the U.S. asset management firm. BlackRock is buying some of it back, and the rest will be listed.
Barclays pegged the market value of the stake at more than $6-billion (U.S.).
Business Ticker