Many investors lost money on Facebook’s IPO, when the stock gained only for a few hours before starting a slide that now has it down more than 30 percent from the offering price.
But Lee Munson, chief investment officer at Portfolio, LLC, thinks the IPO turned out just as it should have, flummoxing both the investment banks who underwrote the affair and investors looking to make a quick buck.
Historically, Wall Street brokerages have used IPOs to reward their favored customers.
Editor's Note: How You Lost $85,000 During the Last Decade. See the Numbers.
But, "That Friday was the day Wall Street got screwed, and it couldn't have happened to a better bunch of bankers,” Munson tells Yahoo.
“I think we should celebrate Facebook, in some sort of twisted way to say this is what going public is all about."
Investors who suffered losses got what was coming to them, he says.
"It is an insult to think that you're entitled to make a pop on the first day. So you're a guy getting the IPO, and it's your God-given right that you will make a profit by being granted these shares? In an unfair, clubby environment?"
Controversy over the IPO may just be getting started. TMZ reports that a lawsuit has been filed charging Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg with selling $1 billion of Facebook shares based on inside information.
Even with the stock’s plunge, many analysts urge caution before jumping in to buy it.
Editor's Note: How You Lost $85,000 During the Last Decade. See the Numbers.
© 2024 Newsmax Finance. All rights reserved.