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AP Photo/Paul Sakuma/PA
Facebook
Here's why Facebook shares stayed above $38 after flotation
Throughout the first day of trading, Facebook shares never dipped below $38. This chart shows why.
2.49pm, 19 May 2012
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After a white-knuckle final 20 minutes of the day, shares of Facebook managed to just keep one nostril above $38, the level where the IPO priced last night.
Why did it never fall below $38?
Basically, because the underwriters of the IPO (Morgan Stanley, et al) bid heavily right at $38 to make sure there was no chance that selling pressure would drive the stock lower than that level. It would be an embarrassment if their clients lost money on their first day of the IPO.
The below table gives a good look at what’s going on.
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On the left side, you see the “bids” that are in the market for the stock. Those are the offers to buy. On the right you see the “asks”, which are asking prices by sellers.
Note that next to each bid or ask there’s a “size” which is the size of the offer to buy or sell.
Note two things: At the top of the left column, you see lots of bids at $38.00 on various trading platforms. (The BATS exchange, Arca, etc.). What’s more, the size of those bids are HUGE.
Hundreds of thousands of shares compared to relatively tiny asks and bids everywhere else. So basically, there were really big, honkin’ buyers ready to stand and protect $38, no matter what.
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@OU812: Totally agree, the support required to develop apps for all phones is unrealistic, giving there’s a whole generation who wouldn’t know what a smartphone is, nor what an app is. SMS is definitely the way to go.
If only there was some sort of wireless technology where people could be warned over the airwaves via some sort of bulletin or regular updates. Say on the hour or something.
@Gavin Boyce: That sounds innovative. Tell me more about these “airwaves” you speak of….can they be used in such a way that that these updates can be targeted at specific regions? and could a service such as this be funded via local advertising revenues?
Why not use the amber and government alerts that’s already available on the iPhone (Emergency alerts on android)? Other countries like the US already use the feature meaning No app required..
every fookin weather app on the planet can do this. i literally have two apps on my phone right now that have this function already. they require internet though, something that’s sparse in Donegal i hear.
They didn’t do a very good job of predicting the flooding at the National Ploughing Championships yesterday either. I bet the organisers will be glad when it is all over.
There is already a system in place in some parts of the country it’s called Mapalerter and lets you know of water outages road closure severe weather alerts etc the alerts come from your local council
We already have an app which can be used for all public alerts etc. It is called “Map Alerter” and has been used a long time by Wexford.County Council to inform of emergency road work, broken water mains, flooding. It is very handy.
Typical of these idiots in gov. Totally overlooking the sensible solution, text messages, radio etc, going with the app that’s going to cost a fortune to develop and might not work properly.
They probably think there’s some magic thing in the app that’s not in the obvious solutions. Shows a total lack of understanding of the technology anyways.
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