Opening Bell: 01.07.11
Facebook Sets Stage For IPO Next Year (WSJ)
Facebook, of Palo Alto, Calif., said it plans to increase its number of shareholders above 500 this year, according to the private-placement document, forcing the social-networking company to begin disclosing reams of financial information or go public by April 2012.
Fact Check: Mass Bird, Fish Deaths Occur Regularly (AP)
The reality, say biologists, is that these mass die-offs happen all the time and usually are unrelated. Federal records show they happen on average every other day somewhere in North America. Usually, we don't notice them and don't try to link them to each other.
Unemployment Down 9.4% But Jobs Report Disappoints (Forbes)
Private sector payrolls added 113,000 workers in December, driving the overall gain of 103,000 jobs. Both figures were improved from November's upwardly revised figures (79,000 and 71,000), but considerably below estimates that crept up this week after the ADP employment survey found that private sector payrolls added 297,000 jobs last month.
Citi: 'Insolvent' Portugal Will Soon Plead For Help (CNBC)
“Now that the Irish government has reached an agreement with the EU/IMF on a financial support package and associated conditionality, the market’s attention will turn to Portugal, whose sovereign, at current levels of interest rates and growth rates, we judge to be less dramatically, but quietly insolvent,” Chief Economist Willem Buiter wrote in a research note Friday. “We consider it likely that Portugal, too, will need to access the EFSF/EFSM soon.” Buiter said.
Hedge Funds Rebound 1.7% In December (Bloomberg)
Ending 2010 at the highest level in more than two years.
AIG Issuing Warrants To Shed Government Stake (AP)
It's been real.
The $60 Million Dream House (WSJ)
The developers of the $60 million Miami Beach house say the estate, which has cost them $30 million so far, has one of the state's first in-home projection 3-D movie theaters. The home, which was built by developers Shlomi Alexander and Felix Cohen, also has a hidden art vault, an elaborate security system and a wine room that can be accessed only via fingerprint identification. Materials like mother of pearl, rare marble and Austrian oak are used throughout. To find the right gold-flecked marble for the master bathroom, the developers say they flew to Italy to personally pick it out from a quarry. To get inspiration for the home's waterscape and pool, which has a waterfall cascading from the second floor, they visited the Amanyara resort in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Wall Street Banks Win China Approval (WSJ)
JPMorgan nd Morgan Stanley have both won approval for securities joint ventures in mainland China, the first U.S. firms to gain such access in six years. The new ventures will allow the two Wall Street banks to underwrite stocks and bonds in mainland China. Like other international investment banks, both firms can already underwrite deals for Chinese companies in Hong Kong, New York and other markets.
Apple Operating Chief Cook Paid $59 Million After Filling In For Jobs (Bloomberg)
Timothy Cook received total compensation of $59.1 million in fiscal 2010 because of bonuses for running day-to-day operations during Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs’s medical leave. Cook was given a $5 million bonus and $52.3 million in stock.
Gold Set for the Longest Losing Run Since 2009 on U.S. Recovery (Bloomberg)
Gold dropped for a fourth day in New York, falling to a five-week low, as signs the U.S. economy is recovering and a stronger dollar curbed investment demand. Other precious metals declined.