Facebook Deathwatch: Who Gets Blame

Shares of Facebook Inc. (NYSE: FB) traded down nearly -7.5% in pre-market action this morning and opened down at $32.59 after closing at $34.03 last night. The stock is down about -26% below its IPO price of $38. Investors are…

Published May 22, 2012, 9:53am ET · 1 min read

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Shares of Facebook Inc. (NYSE: FB) traded down nearly -7.5% in pre-market action this morning and opened down at $32.59 after closing at $34.03 last night. The stock is down about -26% below its IPO price of $38. Investors are searching for someone to blame and there are plenty of suspects.

The Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NASDAQ: NDAQ) gets the nod from some for the exchange’s inability to handle the volume of trades when the stock first began trading. Lead underwriter Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) gets its share of harsh words too. Even General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) gets in line for some blame after cancelling its Facebook advertising deal. And non-stop coverage of the IPO surely could have given one the impression that this was the deal of the century.

But if you bought the stock, the real bad guy is looking back at you from your mirror. We tried to warn you.

Facebook’s shares are down about -6% at $32.01 after 20 minutes of trading this morning.

Paul Ausick

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Paul Ausick

Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.

He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.

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