Even the hottest initial public stock offerings can lose steam after their first day of trading. Sure, company insiders will make money selling at the opening price. And investors who used connections or big bucks to score shares at the IPO price will profit if they sell after a first-day “pop.” For everyone else, the wildly mixed record of other ballyhooed IPOs beyond their first trading session offers a lesson. It’s one that should remind us that buying Facebook stock Friday provides a chance to lose money. It’s understandable that everyone wants to get in early on what could be the next Google. Shares of the Internet search leader had an initial offering price of $85 in 2004, started on the stock market at $100 ... Continue reading →

NEW YORK (AP) -- Don't try to friend MaLi Arwood on Facebook. You won't find her there. You won't find Thomas Chin, either. Or Kariann Goldschmitt. Or Jake Edelstein. More than 900 million people worldwide check their Facebook accounts at least once a month, but millions more are Facebook holdouts. They say they don't want Facebook. They insist they don't need Facebook. They say they're living life just fine without the long-forgotten acquaintances that the world's largest social network sometimes resurrects. They are the resisters. "I'm absolutely in touch with everyone in my life that I want to be in touch with," Arwood says. "I don't need to share triviality with someone that I might have known for six months 12 years ago." Even without ... Continue reading →

CHICAGO — Hoping to get in on Facebook's hotly anticipated public stock offering? You'll need Facebook friends at very high levels – or a lot of money. Most people who like the idea of owning Facebook's stock will have difficulty getting it at the offer price, currently expected at $28 to $35 a share. Unless you know the right people at Facebook, you'll likely need to have a large, active account with one of the big banks or brokerage firms directly involved in the stock sale. Otherwise, you can take your chances by buying shares after the initial public offering is completed, when Facebook begins trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol "FB." That's likely to happen Friday. Doing it that way ... Continue reading →

Greek euro exit no longer unthinkable By DAVID McHUGH, AP Business Writer – 3 hours ago FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Let Greece go: It's a possibility that's being considered more and more publicly in Europe.There have been two and a half years of bailouts, on top of broken promises by Greece to reform. The result: a fifth year of recession and, this week, political chaos. Voters on Sunday favored parties that either oppose the terms of the country's international bailout or want to renegotiate them. If it cannot get more rescue loans, Greece will go bankrupt and likely have to leave the eurozone, the currency union of 17 countries.The question confronting leaders in Athens, Berlin and other eurozone capitals could soon be:What would happen if ... Continue reading →

The Senate may have failed to act on a bill that would have prevented the doubling of interest rates for some student loans, but the inaction may not matter much. According to two experts on financial aid, if the interest rate on Stafford loans doubles to 6.8 percent this summer, as scheduled, students would pay only about $6 more a month for one year of loans.What’s more, Mark Kantrowitz and Lynn O’Shaughnessy write in an Op-Ed essay in The Times, the rate increase won’t affect previous loans, only new loans borrowed for the 2012-13 school year.Here is an excerpt from their analysis:The proposals that Congress has been debating would extend the 3.4 percent interest rate for only one year. If a student borrowed the average ... Continue reading →

We spend $14.6 billion to show our love and appreciation to our fabulous mamas on Mother’s Day. In comparison, we spend $9.4 billion to honor dad on Father’s Day. But that doesn’t mean we have a favorite parent. Just like our parents definitely don’t have a favorite child. (But if they did, it’d be you. Clearly.) In our latest infographic, we take a look at Mother’s Day spending vs. Father’s Day spending. Enjoy. Click image to see a larger version Like this infographic? Use the code below to embed it on your site: Tags: money, Mothers Day, spending Continue reading →

4/13: Forget the Mattress! More than One in Four Americans “Freeze” Their Assets With the clock ticking down to Tax Day, money is on the minds of many Americans. When it comes to the “mad” money they keep in their homes, where do they like to stash it? More than one in four Americans — 27% — reports they hide their money in the freezer. 19% of residents “sock” their green away while 11% sleep well at night with their cash stuffed under their mattress. One in ten — 10% — buries their dough in the cookie jar while 9% leave their loot in some other household location. 17% say there is no good place in the home to hide their money, and 7% are ... Continue reading →

Facebook might seem to be an obvious potential buy for those managers, given its amazing rise from dorm-room startup in 2004 to the world’s largest online social network.But successful stock-picking means being price-conscious. Until late last week, fund managers had little to go on in assessing Facebook’s potential investment value.That’s when Facebook disclosed in a regulatory filing that its shares would be priced in a range of $28 to $35 apiece. The specific price is to be released the day before trading, and decision time is approaching for fund managers considering Facebook for their portfolios.A select few have already jumped in. Dozens have acquired private shares of Facebook over the past year-and-a-half, in some cases through secondary markets that are off-limits to average investors.More than ... Continue reading →