Facebook IPO: Outraged investor cries grow louder
May 25, 2012: 3:29 PM ETSo it's been a week since Facebook (FB) went public and investors are getting angrier by the day. As Wall Street's losses mount, it's the smaller investors who want Facebook to 'show them the money!,' to quote Rod Tidwell (played by Cuba Gooding Jr.) in Jerry Maguire.
"I think we were all lied to and deceived about the value of FB from the very beginging (sic) and that something should be done to reimburse anyone who lost money no matter how small," wrote Phillip Randle, who added this possible solution: "I think all FB user on the site should start shutting down their accounts until they make this right."
But it's not just Facebook that they're mad at. Investors are also lashing out at lead underwriter Morgan Stanley (MS).
"I only had a few dollars to spend, hoping to see my little investment grow… WRONG!!!!! It seems I purchased at $42.00 a share, and I have yet to see where it was ever that much," wrote Kemberley Corbit. "What will Morgan Stanley do with the little people like me?"
And let's not forget Nasdaq (NDAQ), which is under attack for a glitch that held up Facebook's opening trade for 20 minutes, messing up and delaying investor orders, cancellations and confirmation for hours.
"Myself and at least one of my clients were burned by facebook," wrote Jonathan Brown, a financial advisor with USBancorp Investments (USB). "We had limit orders in place that were not filled in a timely manner and then orders that we were able to cancel before they were filled. All of us got caught by the lost momentum and the negative jet wash that has been created. I am holding on and waiting at this point to see if the negativity subsides and if their will be some restitution made by the underwriters and/or NASDAQ."
Yet, there was still one Pollyana among the pack. Seattle investor Bill Hoff bought 25 shares at $38 apiece, followed by an additional 75 at $39.90 when he saw the stock rallying. "I really thought this thing was going to be big," wrote Hoff. "I will wait it out though. I think ine (sic) day it will do good."