On the day of
its IPO, Facebook issued at $38 and went to a high of $45 before returning to
near its issue price (closing at $38.23). On the next trading day, the price
fell to about $34 in the early afternoon. This represents about 10% off the
issue price. The Huffington Post headlined “Stock Plummets,” which must have
been irresistible to anyone who had bought the stock. The Huff was using the
$45 high as its benchmark, from which the $34 price represents a 25% drop. As
if that were a plummeting, using the 10% off figure would have made the
self-aggrandizing headline too obvious. At the very least, the headline
detracts from the credibility of the Huffington Post.
The full essay is at "Taking the Face Off Facebook."
