Facebook lags while markets rise
NEW YORK, May 21 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes rose Monday despite disappointing numbers posted by high-tech hopeful Facebook.
After its initial public offering Friday, Facebook shares backpedaled Monday, losing 12 percent in early trading.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index, which won bragging rights by signing on the social network business, added 51.39 points, 1.85 percent, to 2,830.18. The blue chip The Dow Jones industrial average added 83.59 points or 0.68 percent to 12,452.97. The Standard and Poor's 500 added 14.40 points, 1.84 percent, to 1,310.79.
The benchmark 10-year treasury note fell 1/32 to yield 1.728 percent.
The euro fell $1.2778 from Friday's $1.278. Against the yen, the dollar rose to 79.33 yen from Friday's 79.01 yen.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index added0.26 percent, 22.58, to 8,633.89.
In London, the FTSE 100 index added 0.7 percent, 36.86, to 5,304.48.
Rajat Gupta trial opens with jury selection
NEW YORK, May 21 (UPI) -- New York U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff the trial of former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta would begin with jury selection Monday.
There were 100 potential jurors. Lawyers were to begin the selection process Monday in a trial expected to last four weeks and that concerns a massive insider trading investigation in which prosecutors have already notched 59 guilty pleas of 66 charged.
Among the convicted -- and sentenced to 11 years in prison -- was founder of the Galleon Group hedge-fund Raj Rajaratnam.
Among the charges, prosecutors will attempt to prove Gupta passed on confidential information concerning Berkshire Hathaway's $5 billion investment in Goldman Sacks in 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.
Bahrain turns to solar power
MANAMA, Bahrain, May 21 (UPI) -- Energy Minister Abdul-Hussain Mirza said Bahrain was launching a pioneering solar project in Awali, seeking to rely solely on solar energy to power up the city.
"It could lead to Bahrain building a factory to manufacture solar energy equipment," Mirza said.
The project will be powered by a 5 megawatt solar power station that will be set up in the next nine months, the Gulf Daily News reported.
Bahrain partnered on this project with American-based Petra Solar, the Bahrain Post said.
Facebook as public firm has jittery start
MENLO PARK, Calif., May 21 (UPI) -- Facebook share values fell early Monday following one of the most highly anticipated U.S. initial public offerings in years, Nadaq data said.
Nasdaq delayed the start of the Facebook IPO Friday on fear if its shares were available at the opening bell, pandemonium might ensue.
But Facebook shares failed to make that first-day "pop" -- really taking off. Instead, underwriters had to shore up the stock to maintain the company's $38 per share opening price, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
Facebook may have suffered from overexposure with some of the recent company news sharply negative.
Just a few days before Friday's IPO, General Motors said it was not going to extend its advertising contract with Facebook because the payback was insufficient. The company had also reported slower gains in part because of problems generating revenue from mobile phones.
It turns out more than half of Facebook's visitors access the site through mobile devises.
In addition, Facebook founder and Chief Operating Officer Mark Zuckerberg recently spent $1 billion buying Instagram, a company less than three years old that has yet to make a profit. While the decision may or may not pay off from a business point of view, it was wildly reported that Zuckerberg made the purchase without informing Facebook board members.
