These are stories Report on Business is following Tuesday, May 22, 2012. Get the top business stories through the day on BlackBerry or iPhone by bookmarking our mobile-friendly webpage.
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Zuckerberg's whirlwind Talk about a hectic few days for Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan.
He took Facebook public on Friday amid what Nasdaq officials said were embarrassing glitches from their side of things, while underwriters were forced to support the price.
One day later, Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Chan wed in a surprise ceremony in their backyard in Palo Alto, Calif. The guests had thought they were going to a graduation party for Ms. Chan, late of the medical school at the University of San Francisco.
Then, yesterday, in the first full day of trading, shares of Facebook Inc. slumped well below their initial public offering price of $38 (U.S.), raising anew the questions over its valuation.
That sent the value of Mr. Zuckerberg's stock down by some $2-billion, to about $17-billion from something north of $19-billion on Friday, when the company went public. It was still up there on Saturday, when Ms. Chan married him.
The shares continue to tank today.
- Facebook stock hit again as valuation doubts rise
- David Milstead's Vox: My Facebook status doesn't include 'dumb money'
- Facebook plunges below IPO price
- Nasdaq alters IPO procedures after Facebook glitch
- Did Facebook IPO investors 'freak' after Morgan Stanley cut its revenue target?
- Omar El Akkad: Facebook's flat debut puts social media firms under microscope
OECD warns Europe The OECD is warning the euro zone today about the possibility of a severe slump, and joining the call from other quarters for a eurobond to help shore things up amid the two-year-old debt crisis.
The 17-member monetary union is running dangerously close to a contraction this year of 2 per cent, which is the grimmest of the scenarios that the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development has already put forward. That's the worst case scenario, however. The OECD projects the euro zone economy will shrink by 0.1 per cent this year.
The group is not alone. As our European correspondent Eric Reguly writes in today's Report on Business, France's new president François Hollande plans to urge German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week to jump on the eurobond bandwagon.
The OECD may fear developments in Europe, but it's not overly concerned about Canada, projecting economic growth of about 2 per cent this year and 2.5 per cent in 2013.
Indeed, The Globe and Mail's Kevin Carmichael reports from Washington, the organization is urging the Bank of Canada to begin hiking interest rates again as early as the fall.
- OECD urges Canada to raise rates
- Mike Moffatt's Economy Lab: OECD urges rate hike - Hey, mind your own business
- OECD joins call for euro zone bonds
- France to push harder for euro bonds
Up next: Japan The Fitch ratings agency has turned its eye from the troubled euro zone to Japan, cutting its debt rating by one notch today, to A-plus from double-A.
Fitch cited political troubles that could leave fiscal measures on the backburner, particularly compared to other countries.
"The world would like to see the [Bank of Japan]step up and target inflation more aggressively, and by default adding additional monetary stimulus to a slowing global economy," noted Lauren Rosborough of Société Générale.
The Bank of Japan began a two-day meeting today, and its policy statement is expected tomorrow.
What to watch for this week We'll see how consumers are keeping up when Statistics Canada reports tomorrow on how retailers fared in March.
Economists expect to see that retail sales bounced back to the tune of 0.3 per cent after a dip in February. And if you strip out autos, they're betting on a bounce of 0.5 per cent to 0.6 per cent.
"March's warm temperatures were probably a boon to retailers, namely sellers of building materials, hobby items, and discretionary goods," said Emanuella Enenajor of CIBC World Markets.
"Although gasoline prices fell on a seasonally adjusted basis, the dent to receipts may have been limited by the robust weather that supported incentives to gas-up and head outdoors."
For investors, Canada's major banks begin another quarterly earnings season, with results this week from Bank of Montreal, Royal Bank of Canada and Toronto-Dominion Bank.
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