Facebook IPO
-
The Time to Buy Facebook Stock
-
Why Facebook Stock is doing a Faceplant
Forget all the hype.
And you can even forget that I told you Facebook was a hyped-up offering, and that I would sell my shares if I was an insider, and that I definitely wouldn't buy the IPO on its first trading day.
Did you listen to me?
If you didn't, and you own Facebook stock (Nasdaq: FB), here's what you have to worry about.
The Facebook Stock Concerns
First, did you get your confirmation? Probably by now you did.
But the problems that NASDAQ OMX Group had sending out electronic trade confirmations in the heat of trading on Friday were staggering. (They eventually went "manual" on the opening day of the biggest tech offer ever on the biggest tech exchange in the world... how ironic... manual.)
There's nothing out there, nothing anywhere about who or how many people did or didn't get confirmations or when they got them. There's nothing out there because the exchange is panicking, and if thousands of confirms, or tens of millions of shares, are up in the air... well imagine what could happen.
To continue reading, please click here... -
There's More to the IPO Market Than Facebook (Nasdaq: FB)
Admit it, you love the Facebook IPO (Nasdaq: FB).
Besides its $100 billion-plus stock valuation, the social media company has over 900 million active users worldwide.
Plus, at $16 billion, Facebook will go down as the second largest U.S. IPO ever, trailing only Visa's $17.9 billion deal in 2010.
But let's not forget, this isn't the first IPO that's gotten a ton of attention, and it won't be the last.
In fact, the hype surrounding Facebook stock is overshadowing the entire IPO market, clouding the big picture, and perhaps, some worthwhile investments.
So let's take a look at what else has been going on in the IPO market and what's coming up that deserves your attention.
To continue reading, please click here... -
Facebook Stock Price Gets Small Bump in Lackluster Debut
In what was one of the most highly anticipated initial public offerings in history, Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) finally made its debut among much fanfare and frenzy Friday.
But the Facebook stock price failed to soar as high as the hype. While not exactly a dud, the intro was definitely subdued.
Shares opened around 11:30 a.m. in New York at $42.05, up about 11% from Facebook's IPO price. Momentum quickly ebbed, and shares dropped as low at the $38 IPO price in the first half hour of trading.
By 3 p.m. shares were hovering just above $38. But with an hour of trading still to go, investors shouldn't get complacent.
"The day isn't over," cautioned Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald. But regarding Facebook's debut, "initial trading has not been impressive."
-
Heavy Betting in the Middle of Mayhem
There's going to be a lot of very heavy betting over the next few days, weeks, and months on what's going up, what's going down, and what's going around:
- How far will Facebook IPO price go?
- How far DOWN from here will JPMorgan go, with the FBI and DOJ now sniffing around?
- How far AROUND the globe will the fallout be if Greece loses its game of chicken?
If you don't have the stomach for what's going to feel like an out-of-control rollercoaster ride, sideline yourself.
If, on the other hand, you like a lot of action, welcome to Mayhem - the preamble month to what will likely be the Summer of Some Discontent.
That is, unless you like rapid-fire trading.
Which, by the way, is not just fun, but can be very, very profitable. I'm in, and so are the subscribers to my Capital Wave Forecast. We're gearing up for some heavy betting in the weeks and months ahead.
So, what's front and center today? You know. The big three headlines: Facebook, JPMorgan Chase, and Greece. Are you sick of hearing about them? I'm not. I like trading the headlines.
Here's my "heads-up" on the big three headlines.
To continue reading, please click here... -
Facebook Stock Ready to Roll – But Where Will it Go?
The Facebook IPO price was set and the stock is ready to start trading - but will it live up to its hype or sharply sell-off?
The social media giant priced at $38 a share, the company announced after market close yesterday (Thursday).
That makes Facebook the largest tech IPO in history, valued at $16 billion.
It's the third largest U.S. IPO ever, behind first place Visa at $19.7 billion and then General Motors, which raised $18.1 billion.
While the stock has created unrivaled investor frenzy, there is a wide range of predictions for how Facebook will do in its first trading day - and who the real winners will be.
"The ones who make out on IPOs are the early investors, venture capitalists, founders, and underwriters," said Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald. "The public almost always goes along for the ride...whether or not they get taken for a ride remains to be seen." The Facebook stock price will be determined when it starts trading today at 11 a.m.
Where the cutoff is for considering the IPO a success varies - with many thinking anything below 50% would be a disappointment.
"I think anything over 50 percent will be considered a successful offering - anything under that would be underwhelming, Jim Krapfel, an analyst at Morningstar, told Reuters. "A lot of retail investors are not concerned about valuation. That's what is going to drive the first day pop."
-
Investing in IPOs: Why You Should Think Twice About Facebook (Nasdaq: FB)
Ever since the Dutch East India Company became the first to issue stocks and bonds to the public in 1602, investors have seen initial public offerings (IPOs) as the road to riches.
The current hype surrounding the Facebook IPO is just one example.
But investors tempted by Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) may want to think back to the dotcom craze of the late 1990 s. You'll remember it spawned a feeding frenzy among investors chasing after internet IPOs on an almost daily basis.
It wasn't long before investors on Main Street took the bait after watching hordes of new college graduates in Silicon Valley become instant millionaires.
But as companies with unproven business models executed massive IPOs with sky-high prices, every day investors who succumbed to the siren call got clobbered.
Pets.com for instance, raised $82.5 million in an IPO in February 2000 before imploding nine months later. And EToys.com stock went from a high of $84 per share in 1999 to a low of just 9 cents per share in February 2001.
In both cases, small investors were left holding the bag. The point is IPOs have always been high-risk, high-reward.
So, what is an IPO anyway? How do people get rich-and go broke-- so fast? And, more importantly, should you invest in an IPO like Facebook for instance?
Here's what you need to know...
To continue reading, please click here...
-
The Facebook IPO Facts: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Face it, you want it. It seems that everyone wants a piece of the Facebook IPO.
But, can you handle the truth? Will the hyped sensationalism be a boon or a boondoggle?
I'm not going to tell you what to do, whether you should buy Facebook sooner rather than later. That's up to you.
However, I will tell you that I won't be buying it right away, but, I will be buying it if...
First though, here's the good the bad and the ugly truth about the company, the IPO and owning "FB."
The Good News About the Facebook IPO
The good news is overwhelming if you're Mark Zuckerberg, any of the company's founders, executives, or venture capital backers, many of whom own Facebook stock (Nasdaq: FB) at a dollar a share.
So far, the target range the stock is expected to be priced at--which was originally $28-$35/share-- has been raised to between $34-$38.
And it could very well go higher before tonight's pricing deadline. The amount of shares to be floated is being raised too.
That's all good news for the insiders, the underwriters and the company itself.
FB is causing its own IPO hype, partly because it will be the largest IPO in U.S. history, in terms of the value it will put on the company, which will likely approach $100 billion. However, Visa in 2008 and GM in 2010 will have raised more money on their IPO debuts. (I know, calling GM's IPO a debut is strange to me too.)
Facebook will raise at least $13 billion (at the lowest end of the price and share offering range) and bank some $9 billion in cash on its balance sheet. That's good news.
But better than that, the company will now have a huge hoard of stock as currency to use to buy up companies and technology to advance its master of the social media universe status.
The other good news is that... -
Facebook IPO Size Hits 421 Million Shares
As it approaches, the Facebook IPO just got bigger as more early investors look to cash out.
Just after the Facebook IPO price range got a boost, Facebook investors raised the number of shares they are selling in the social network giant's initial public offering. While the company isn't selling any more, individual investors like Accel Partners, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) and others will sell an additional 83.8 million shares.
That brings that total number of shares to be sold to 421.2 million, according to a new regulatory filing, and lifts the sale to as much as $16 billion.
While the news was welcomed by ordinary investors clamoring for shares as Facebook debuts, it's curious why more and more insiders are racing to sell part of their stake. The move may just be a signal of the IPO's astronomical demand - but could make some investors wary.
"If the demand wasn't there, they wouldn't have upsized the deal," Greenwood Capital's Walter Todd told Bloomberg News. "On the other hand, when you see insiders unloading their stakes, you start to wonder why. I could see it turning some institutional investors off."
-
Five with Fitz: What I See When I Look Over the Horizon
When you've been working the markets as long as I have, you learn that the biggest dangers are always found in a place just over the horizon.
It's why I spend my time hunting for stories, news items and opinions that in the old days were considered far "below the fold."
Invariably, what I am looking for is the stuff that everybody else has missed.
Because I believe that's where the real information is -- especially when it comes to uncovering profitable opportunities others don't yet see or understand.
It's the story behind the story that interests me. To find it, you need to go beyond the headline news.
In that spirit, here's my take on five things that I'm thinking about right now.
To continue reading, please, click here...
