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U.S. banking laws unable to stop JPMorgan loss: Republican Boehner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. banking reforms could not have prevented JPMorgan Chase & Co's trading losses, and those involved in the activities that went awry should be held accountable, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said in an interview aired on Sunday. "I don't believe there's anything in Dodd-Frank (financial reform law) that would've prevented this activity at JPMorgan," said Boehner, the top Republican U.S. officeholder. He made the comments Friday in an interview for ABC's "This Week. ...

U.N. seeks Iran nuclear deal before Baghdad talks

VIENNA (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear supervisor flies to Tehran on Sunday looking for a deal to inspect suspected weapons sites - a potential breakthrough that Iran may hope could persuade the West to start lifting sanctions and deflect threats of war. But though IAEA chief Yukiya Amano scheduled Monday's talks with Iran at such short notice that diplomats said agreement on new inspections may be near, few see Tehran convincing Western governments to ease back swiftly on punitive measures when its negotiators meet big power officials in Baghdad on Wednesday. Amano, director general of the U.N. ...

Sudan releases four foreigners arrested in border area

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan has released four foreigners who were detained three weeks ago near the border with South Sudan following weeks of heavy clashes between the two African neighbors, officials said on Sunday. Sudan accused the four - a Briton, a Norwegian, a South African and a South Sudanese - of entering an oil-producing border area illegally to spy for South Sudan. South Sudanese officials had denied Sudan's allegations, saying the men were working with the United Nations and aid groups clearing mines, and had got lost in the remote territory. ...

Italy quake kills five, damages historic buildings

A Carabinieri paramilitary officer stands near a damaged car after a strong aftershock struck Finale EmiliaSANT' AGOSTINO, Italy (Reuters) - A strong earthquake in northern Italy killed five people, injured dozens and damaged historic buildings including a famed mediaeval castle early on Sunday, waking terrified citizens and sending thousands running into the streets. The quake, which the U.S. Geological Survey recorded at magnitude 6.0, struck at 4:04 a.m. (0204 GMT) and was followed by a series of jolting aftershocks. At least two of them reached magnitude 5.1, sowing fresh panic, further damaging already weakened buildings and causing more structures to collapse. ...


Lebanese soldiers kill two anti-Assad activists

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese soldiers shot dead two members of an alliance against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in northern Lebanon on Sunday, security sources said, in the latest incident to raise fears Syria's turmoil was spilling over the border into its neighbor. Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahid, a Sunni Muslim cleric, and Khaled Miraib, both members of the Lebanon-based March 14 political alliance, were shot in their car as they sped through a Lebanese army checkpoint without stopping, the sources said. Residents of the northern region of Akkar blocked off roads to protest against the deaths. ...

Family of Hamas figure seeks to block Israel movie

FILE - In this May 1, 2012 file photo, Israeli model Bar Refaeli plays a seductress with actor Tomer Sisley on a set of a film made about the assassination of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in Eilat, southern Israel. The family of al- Mabhouh says it wants to block the release of a movie being made about his 2010 assassination in a Dubai hotel. The killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was widely blamed on Israel's Mossad spy agency. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty, Files)Relatives of a slain Hamas operative seek to block the release of a movie being made in Israel about his 2010 assassination in a Dubai luxury hotel, a family member said Sunday.


NATO leaders map strategy for Afghanistan exit

Canada's PM Harper and Britain's PM Cameron wave in Chicago, ahead of the NATO SummitCHICAGO (Reuters) - NATO leaders gathered in Chicago on Sunday to chart a path out of Afghanistan as war-weary Western nations seek to fend off dissent in their alliance and ensure Afghanistan can hold a still-potent Taliban at bay when foreign troops withdraw. President Barack Obama hosts the summit in his home town, Chicago, a day after leaders of major industrialized nations tackled Europe's debt crisis, backing keeping Greece in the euro zone and vowing to take steps necessary to revitalize the world economy. ...


Jailed Israeli president freed briefly

A prison spokeswoman says Israel's jailed former president has been freed for a few hours to attend his son's wedding.

Wall Street Week Ahead: Market is oversold, but major signs say "sell"

The U.S. flag hangs outside the New York Stock ExchangeNEW YORK (Reuters) - Normally a big decline would set up Wall Street for a technical rebound. But that may not be the case this week, even after the market posted its worst weekly loss for the year and the S&P fell for six straight sessions. With the corporate earnings season drawing to an end and recent U.S. economic data raising doubts about the pace of growth, the S&P 500, which is down 7.3 percent so far in May, could decline further this week as concerns about the financial health of Europe persist. ...


Egypt presidential candidate joins hunger strike

An Egypt presidential candidate has joined dozens of activists on hunger strike to protest the continued detention of more than 300 people who face possible military prosecution.

Syrian army shelling kills 16 in Hama: rights groups

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian army shelling killed 16 people, including children, on Sunday in the town of Souran in the central province of Hama, the British-based rights group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. "The army shelled the town and then stormed it," the head of the rights group Rami Abdelrahman told Reuters, citing residents. Hama has been a focal point of Syria's 14-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. (Reporting by Oliver Holmes; Editing by Louise Ireland)

Bahraini activist granted bail but not released

Bahrian's Human Rights Activits, Nabeel Rajab, gives a victory sign during an anti-government protest held in downtown ManamaDUBAI (Reuters) - A Bahraini court granted bail on Sunday to leading activist Nabeel Rajab, who is charged with insulting authorities in the Gulf Arab state, but he is still being held pending trial for a different case, his lawyer said. Bahrain has been in turmoil since a democracy protest movement led by majority Shi'ites erupted last year following successful revolts in Egypt and Tunisia. The government has rejected opposition calls for an elected government and protests and clashes with police continue weekly. ...


Apple, Samsung CEOs head to court-ordered play date

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The chiefs of Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd are used to running the show at their global tech empires, but they will be in for a different experience when they arrive at a San Francisco federal courthouse on Monday. Apple's Tim Cook and Samsung's Choi Gee-sung, whose companies are embroiled in bitter patent litigation, have been instructed by a federal judge to appear for court-supervised mediation. A joint court filing in April said that "as directed by the Court, Apple and Samsung are both willing to participate" in the discussions. ...

Lockerbie bomber Megrahi has died in Libya: brother

File photo of convicted Lockerbie bomber Megrahi speaking during an exclusive interview with Reuters TV at his home in TripoliTRIPOLI (Reuters) - The former Libyan intelligence officer convicted of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people has died, his brother said on Sunday. Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, released from a Scottish prison in 2009 and returned to Libya because he was suffering from terminal cancer, had been in and out of hospital for weeks and was taken for an emergency blood transfusion in April. Megrahi's health had deteriorated quickly overnight, his brother Abdulhakim told Reuters. "He was surrounded by his family and died in his house," he said. He was 60. ...


Yemen troops clash with al-Qaida in south; 17 dead

Fresh clashes between al-Qaida fighters and government forces in Yemen left 17 dead on Sunday, military officials said, as the army pushed on with an offensive to regain a key town in the county's south that fell to the militants more than a year ago.

French Le Pen to lose to leftist in assembly vote: poll

PARIS (Reuters) - An opinion poll published on Sunday showed that French far-right leader Marine Le Pen would lose to far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon in her home district in parliamentary elections next month. The Ifop-Fiducial poll showed that Le Pen would win the June 10 first round with 34 percent of the votes against 29 percent for Melenchon but would be beaten 55-45 percent by Melenchon in the June 17 second round. Not winning the parliamentary seat in her political backyard, the northern working-class town of Henin-Beaumont, would be a humiliation for Le Pen, who won 17. ...

Pakistan blocks Twitter over contentious tweets

Pakistan blocked the social networking website Twitter on Sunday because it refused to remove tweets considered offensive to Islam, said one of the country's top telecommunications officials.

Pakistan blocks Twitter over contentious tweets

Pakistan blocked the social networking website Twitter on Sunday because it refused to remove tweets considered offensive to Islam, said one of the country's top telecommunications officials.

Egypt's would-be "president of the poor" touts past

QALYUB, Egypt (Reuters) - The motorcade of Hamdeen Sabahy, a dark horse in Egypt's presidential race, inched over the bumpy roads of this Egyptian town led by a car booming 1960s nationalist music in homage to his hero, Gamal Abdel Nasser. The smiling leftist politician has a long history of opposition, first to Nasser's successor Anwar Sadat and then to Hosni Mubarak, who was deposed in last year's popular uprising. ...

Bomb explodes near UN observers' chief in Syria

In this citizen journalism image provided by Sham News Network SNN, an anti-Syrian regime protester, holds up a Cross and Crescent painted with colors of the Syrian revolution flag during a demonstration against Syrian President Bashar Assad, at the Damascus suburb of Yabroud, Syria, Friday, May 18, 2012. Syrian security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse thousands rallying Friday in Aleppo in what activists said was the largest protest yet in a city that has largely remained loyal to President Bashar Assad during the country's 15-month uprising. (AP Photo/Sham News Network, SNN)THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTOA roadside bomb exploded in a restive suburb of the Syrian capital as senior U.N. officials toured the area on Sunday, blowing off the front of a parked vehicle but causing no casualties.


APNewsBreak: 22 states join campaign finance fight

FILE - Montana Attorney General Steve Bullock is seen at an event in which he announced the start of his 2012 gubernatorial campaign on in this Sept. 7, 2011 file photo taken in Billings, Mont. Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia are backing Montana in its fight to prevent the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision from being used to strike down state laws restricting corporate campaign spending. Bullock argues that political corruption in the Copper King era led to the state ban on corporate campaign spending. A clarification of Citizens United is needed to make clear that states can block certain political spending in the interest of limiting corruption, he said. On Friday, May 18, 2012 Montana's case was given a boost when U.S. Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-D-R.I., signed on in support. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia are backing Montana in its fight to prevent the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision from being used to strike down state laws restricting corporate campaign spending.


Powerful quake kills at least 4 in northern Italy

Elderly evacuated from their homes, sit in a classroom of a kindergarten in Mirabello, Italy, Sunday, May 20. 2012. A magnitude-5.9 earthquake shook northern Italy early Sunday, killing at least three people and toppling some buildings, emergency services and news reports said. The quake struck at 4:04 a.m. Sunday between Modena and Mantova, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north-northwest of Bologna at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)One of the worst quakes to hit northeast Italy in hundreds of years rattled the region around Bologna early Sunday, killing at least four people, collapsing factories and sending residents running out into the streets, emergency services said.


Weaker euro zone nations need more support from core: UK

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro zone can protect its currency if its stronger countries provide more support for the weaker to help them deal with their problems, British finance minister George Osborne said in a newspaper on Sunday. The future of Europe's 17-country single currency bloc is under threat from a political stalemate in Greece, which could lead to its departure from the monetary union at unknown costs to the financial system and global economic stability. ...

Lawyers for fugitive Iraqi VP quit case in protest

Iraq's vice president Tariq al-Hashemi arrives to speak to the the Associated Press in Istanbul, Turkey, late Thursday, May 17, 2012. Al-Hashemi says former bodyguards who are testifying against him in a terror trial in Baghdad might have been drugged or blackmailed. The trial in absentia of Tariq al-Hashemi, who is in Turkey, started this week when agents who used to protect him said they were ordered to kill security officials and plant roadside bombs. Interpol has issued a so-called Lawyers for Iraq's fugitive Sunni vice president charged with running death squads that targeted Shiite officials and pilgrims quit the case on Sunday in protest after judges would not let them present evidence at the trial.


Pakistan blocks Twitter over contentious material

Pakistan blocked the social networking website Twitter on Sunday because it refused to remove material considered offensive to Islam, said one of the country's top telecommunications officials.

China's Wen urges more support for growth

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's premier called for additional efforts to support growth on Sunday, signaling Beijing's willingness to take action after a recent series of economic indicators suggested that the world's second-biggest economy will slow further in the second quarter. "We should continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy while giving more priority to maintaining growth," Premier Wen Jiabao said in comments reported by state news agency Xinhua. Chinese exports rose by 4. ...

Ex-president seeks comeback in Dominican Republic

In this combo of two photographs, Danilo Medina, left, presidential candidate of the ruling Dominican Liberation Party, speaks during an interview on May 15, 2012, and Hipolito Mejia, former president and candidate of the opposition Dominican Revolutionary Party, listens to a question on May 17, 2012, both in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Medina and Mejia are the two leading candidates for the Sunday presidential elections. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)A former president whose term ended with the worst economic crisis in the modern history of the Dominican Republic will seek to make a comeback Sunday as he faces an old rival in a race to lead the Caribbean's top tourist destination.


China state-run businesses to invest 350 billion yuan in Chongqing

BEIJING (Reuters) - Thirty of China's biggest state-owned businesses have signed contracts worth about 350 billion yuan ($55.3 billion) with the southwestern municipality Chongqing, Chinese media reported on Sunday, in a sign of Beijing's determination to bolster confidence in the city formerly run by ousted leader Bo Xilai. Since the fall of the once high-flying Chinese official, media reports and some investors have questioned whether Chongqing's debt-laden economy is also headed for trouble. ...

Samsung's mobile chief says has options to settle war with Apple

Students walk out of a showroom at the headquarters of Samsung Electronics in SeoulSEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics' mobile division chief JK Shin said on Sunday the South Korean technology giant was still seeking to resolve differences in its international patent war with Apple Inc.. "There is still a big gap in the patent war with Apple but we still have several negotiation options including cross-licensing," Shin told reporters at Seoul airport shortly before his departure for the United States. Asked about the prospects for Samsung's memory chip business, Shin said the 4G chip shortage was expected to continue until early in the fourth quarter of this year. ...


Day after historic IPO, Facebook's Zuckerberg weds

This photo provided by Facebook shows Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan at their wedding ceremony in Palo Alto, Calif., Saturday, May 19, 2012. Zuckerberg updated his status to For Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, it was quite a week — from birthday, to IPO, to I DO.


Obama sees 'emerging consensus' on economic fix

President Barack Obama briefs journalists following the G-8 Summit Saturday, May 19, 2012 at Camp David, Md. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)Confronting an economic crisis that threatens them all, President Barack Obama and leaders of other world powers on Saturday declared that their governments must both spark growth and cut the debt that has crippled the European continent and put investors worldwide on edge.


Status update: Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg gets married

Facebook co-founder and CEO Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan are seen in this wedding photo(Reuters) - Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg wed longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan on Saturday, announcing the nuptials through a status update on the social networking site. The 28-year-old billionaire's wedding took place a day after Facebook's initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange on Friday. More than 280,000 people "liked" Zuckerberg's status change, which was accompanied by a photo of the smiling couple in wedding attire in a small, verdant outdoor setting with a string of lights behind them. ...


Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg weds on day after IPO

This photo provided by Facebook shows Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan at their wedding ceremony in Palo Alto, Calif., Saturday, May 19, 2012. Zuckerberg updated his status to A day after the historic Facebook IPO, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg updated his status Saturday to "married."


Two smaller unions agree deals with Lockheed

(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp said on Saturday it had negotiated new contracts with two smaller unions at its Fort Worth, Texas plant, even as a strike by the larger machinists union stretched into a fifth week. Lockheed said about 70 members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) on Friday ratified a new contract that would extend for four years. On Saturday, a new five-year contract was approved by 430 members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU). Both agreements take effect on Monday. ...

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg marries sweetheart

This photo provided by Facebook shows Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan at their wedding ceremony in Palo Alto, Calif., Saturday, May 19, 2012. Zuckerberg updated his status to Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg updated his status to "married" on Saturday.


Google says it has China's approval for Motorola deal

Women walk past the logo of Google in front of its former headquarters in Beijing(Reuters) - Google said on Saturday that Chinese authorities have approved its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings, the last regulatory hurdle to a deal that would allow the world's No. 1 Internet search engine to develop its own line of smart phones. Google, which will be the newest entrant to the handset market, announced plans for the acquisition last year in a bid to secure Motorola's valuable patents and pave the way for a pairing of Google's Android mobile software and Motorola's handset business. U.S. ...


Greeks' crisis is personal as well as political

Like many Greeks left unemployed by their country's economic tailspin, Dimitris Spachos finds it easier to talk about his nation's problems than his own.

Seaway pipeline sends oil to Texas in historic reversal

HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Seaway pipeline began pumping crude from Cushing, Oklahoma, oil tanks to the heart of the U.S. refining industry in Houston on Saturday, marking a historic shift in the way oil flows across the United States. The first barrels went into the line about noon CDT (1700 GMT) Saturday and volumes were expected to increase within days to 150,000 barrels per day (bpd), spokesman Rick Rainey of operating partner Enterprise Products said by email. Enbridge Inc is a 50 percent partner in the project. ...

Google gets China OK for Motorola deal

FILE - In this May 11, 2011 file photo, attendees chat at the Google IO Developers Conference in San Francisco. Authorities in China have approved Google Inc.'s bid to buy phone maker Motorola Mobility, clearing the way for the $12.5 billion deal to close early next week. The Chinese government approved the deal on Saturday, May 19, 2012, Google spokeswoman Niki Fenwick said. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)Authorities in China have approved Google Inc.'s bid to buy phone maker Motorola Mobility, clearing the way for the $12.5 billion deal to close early next week.


Russia Sberbank sees sale certainty after government formed

CEO of Russian Sberbank Gref attends a plenary session of the World Economic Forum in ViennaWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Europe's second largest lender Russia's Sberbank will see some certainty over the planned privatization sale after the new Russian government's lineup is announced on May 21, CEO German Gref said on Saturday. Sberbank initially planned the sale of the 7.6 percent stake, part of Russia's ambitious privatization program, last September but postponed the deal after global risk aversion wiped around $1.5 billion off the stake's value. "It seems to me that, yes, such certainty should emerge (after the cabinet announcement)," Gref said. ...


Google says it won China's approval for Motorola deal

Women walk past the logo of Google in front of its former headquarters in Beijing(Reuters) - Google said on Saturday that Chinese authorities have approved its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola Mobility Holdings, the last regulatory hurdle to a deal that would allow the world's No. 1 Internet search engine to develop its own line of smart phones. Google, which will be the newest entrant to the handset market, announced plans for the acquisition last year in a bid to secure Motorola's valuable patents and pave the way for a pairing of Google's Android mobile software and Motorola's handset business. U.S. ...


Obama, G-8: Recovery takes both growth and cutting

World leaders walk to the family photo session at the G-8 Summit at Camp David, Md., Saturday, May 19, 2012. From left are Italian Premier Mario Monti, British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President Barack Obama, French President Francois Hollande, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. (AP Photo/Philippe Wojazer, Pool)Confronting an economic crisis that threatens them all, President Barack Obama and leaders of other world powers on Saturday declared that their governments must both spark growth and cut the debt that has crippled the European continent and put investors worldwide on edge.


Obama wants new banking rules put in place soon

President Barack Obama waves as he walks from the White House in Washington, Friday, May 18, 2012, to board Marine One, as he travels to Camp David for the G8 Summit. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)President Barack Obama says the big trading loss at JPMorgan Chase shows the need to finally put in place banking rules he signed into law two years ago. He also is calling on Congress to stop trying to weaken the regulations.


Audi eyes management reshuffle: CEO in magazine

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen's Audi division is looking into a management reshuffle as it eyes an expansion in China, Latin America and the United States, the unit's head told a German magazine. "Against the backdrop of Audi's 'Strategy 2020' it would be negligent not to think about the team line-up," Audi Chief Executive Rupert Stadler told WirtschaftsWoche in an excerpt of an article made available to Reuters on Saturday. There were "of course" discussions about organization and structure in this context but decisions have not yet been taken, he added. ...

Obama pledges tough enforcement of Wall Street reforms

U.S. President Barack Obama walks to welcome guests at the G8 summit in Camp DavidPresident Barack Obama on Saturday called on the U.S. Congress to back his efforts for tough new financial industry oversight, saying a $2 billion trading loss at JPMorgan underscored the need for such regulation. "We've got to finish the job of implementing this reform and putting these rules in place," Obama said in a weekly radio address that accused some on Wall Street of causing the 2007-2009 economic crisis because they "treated our financial system like a casino. ...


Manulife, Metlife submit bids for ING Asia sale: sources

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Manulife Financial Corp and Metlife are among the companies that have submitted first round bids for ING's entire Asia life insurance business, sources said on Saturday, in what could be the largest Asia M&A insurance deal ever. ING's long awaited sale of Asian life insurance and the asset management units will help the Dutch bancassurer to partly repay the 3 billion euros ($3.81 billion) of state aid plus the 50 percent premium it still owes the Dutch government. The bids were submitted late on Friday and the indicative offers ranged between 6-7 billion euros ($7.6-$8. ...

CFTC opens probe into JPMorgan trading loss: source

(Reuters) - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has opened an investigation into possible wrongdoing at JPMorgan Chase & Co in connection with the bank's multi-billion-dollar trading loss, a source familiar with the probe told Reuters. The agency will soon disclose the existence of the investigation, the source said on Friday. Earlier on Friday, the New York Times reported that the CFTC had opened an enforcement case, quoting people briefed on the matter. The CFTC would join the FBI and the U.S. ...

Dewey to consider bankruptcy filing: source

A man moves boxes out of the offices of Dewey & LeBoeuf in New YorkNEW YORK (Reuters) - Ailing law firm Dewey & LeBoeuf is considering a bankruptcy filing as new debtholders take a more aggressive track, shifting away from earlier attempts at an out-of-court liquidation, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday. The majority of Dewey's partners have quit as a result of concerns about compensation, and $225 million in bank loans and bond debt. ...


Morgan Stanley made big bet on Facebook

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lead Facebook Inc underwriter Morgan Stanley took a bet earlier this week when it increased the size of the social networking firm's $16 billion initial public offering and it boosted the price. Thanks to massive hype surrounding Facebook's historic public offering, the wager looked safe. But a rocky first day of trading has raised questions about whether it paid off. After a delayed start to trading, Facebook's shares spent much of the day struggling to stay above the $38 IPO price - and ended with just a 23-cent gain. ...

Historic Facebook debut falls flat

Recent activity lists SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The historic initial public offering of Facebook Inc did not go as planned on Friday, as the social networking company's sky-high valuation combined with trading glitches left the stock languishing near its offering price at the market close. Facebook shares began trading late Friday morning and opened 11 percent above the $38 offering price, but after peaking at about $45 slid rapidly at the end of the day to close at $38.23. The IPO was the third-largest in U.S. history and valued eight-year-old Facebook at $104 billion. ...


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