Good news for early Facebook IPO investors who may have been a victim of Nasdaq’s computer communication glitch, Morgan Stanley is reviewing all of the trades that went through on that day. As you remember, trading was delayed by a half hour Friday morning as big bank trading desks attempted to verify who bought what and at what price. The issue was quickly resolved, but the delay caused a temporary spike in trading that quickly settled back down to the $38 targeted per share price.
The market closed at just over $38 on Friday. The weekend didn’t reflect any prominent trading either and by monday at 4PM, Facebook closed at $34. Tuesday saw more declines and closed at just over $31 and trades today haven’t strayed too much from that price range. In fact, it looks like $30 would have been an ideal price range for the offering.
Anyway, the trading reviews from Morgan Stanley are welcome news for many investors who may have overpaid. Reuters obtained a copy of the official memo put out by the bank regarding their review of the trades on Friday.
Here are a few key statements taken from Morgan Stanley’s memo:
“All orders are currently being reviewed for best execution pricing,”
“We expect there will be a number of price adjustments. The largest adjustments will be processed first over the next several days and the remaining adjustments will be completed as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.”
The news of the review comes as several investors in New York, California, and most likely Massachusetts filed lawsuits over revenue projections that were allegedly kept secret during Facebook’s promotional IPO investors roadshow and subsequent IPO launch. The lawsuits in California in New York are over damages sustained from being misinformed about the health of the investments.
Massachusetts has yet to actually file a suit, but officials have subpoenaed documents relating to the revenue forecasts. Meanwhile investors and experts in the financial sector are calling the sequence of events an outrage. It has all the workings of a really great scandal.
Oh, I almost forgot, Wall Street regulators are now investigating the allegations that some of the big bank investors were tipped off about the revised earnings projections, while others were left in the dark. Some banks have even come forward to say they believe Facebook fudged some of their own numbers to make investments seem more favorable. It just keeps getting worse. Check back regularly and we’ll keep you informed as this thing evolves.