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SAN FRANCISCO Shares of Facebook Inc jumped nearly 13 percent on Wednesday, as investors breathed a sigh of relief that expiring trading restrictions on a huge block of shares failed to trigger an immediate wave of insider selling. “While the lockup is expiring, there is nothing requiring anybody to sell,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York. “Given the low price, these long-term holders are deciding to hold the stock, and that is lifting it here as the fear of the expiration subsides.” Roughly 800 million Facebook shares were eligible for sale on [...]

SAN FRANCISCO Shares of Facebook Inc jumped as much as 11.2 percent on Wednesday, as investors breathed a sigh of relief that expiring trading restrictions on a huge block of shares did not trigger an immediate wave of insider selling. “While the lockup is expiring, there is nothing requiring anybody to sell,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York. “Given the low price, these long-term holders are deciding to hold the stock, and that is lifting it here as the fear of the expiration subsides.” Roughly 800 million Facebook shares were eligible for [...]

Shares of Facebook Inc (FB) jumped as much as 11.2 percent on Wednesday, even as the biggest block of shares held by insiders became eligible for sale for the first time since the social media company’s disappointing debut in May. Facebook shares were up 8.8 percent at $ 21.60 in heavy mid-day trading on the Nasdaq, off an earlier high at $ 22.09. “While the lockup is expiring, there is nothing requiring anybody to sell,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York. “Given the low price, these long-term holders are deciding to hold [...]

Facebook Inc (FB) shares fell 4 percent in busy trade early on Wednesday as the company allowed employees to start selling some stock. The world’s largest social network waived a provision that prevented employees from selling shares until November 14. As a result, Facebook staffers were able to sell their vested shares on Monday. About 234 million shares held by employees were eligible for sale in the public market. However, because the markets were closed on Monday and Tuesday in the wake of powerful storm Sandy, Wednesday was the first trading day. “I don’t really understand why Facebook (chose) to [...]

SAN FRANCISCO Shares of Yelp Inc. soared more than 20% Wednesday afternoon as the lockup period for more than 52 million of the company’s post-IPO stock expired, but apparently did not lead to a selloff. An investor told The Wall Street Journal that the share gains may be the result of “short covering” as investors who bet on the stock taking a hit with the lockup expiration found were left scrambling to cover their losses. “The shorts got caught with their pants down today, plain and simple,” Seth Setrakian of First New York Securities told the Wall Street Journal. Yelp was last trading up 23% to $ 22.49.

Shares of consumer reviews website Yelp Inc recorded their biggest one-day advance on Wednesday, the day insiders were free to sell their holdings, surprising investors. The stock rose 20 percent to $ 21.84 with more than six-and-a-half million shares traded, putting it on track for its busiest day since its debut in March. Shares rose as high as $ 22.89, and the rally briefly bumped the stock back above its debut price of $ 22.01 a share. Part of the stock’s rise may be related to the relatively high percentage of shares being borrowed for shorting purposes. About 97 percent [...]

Facebook Inc (FB) director Peter Thiel sold roughly $ 400 million worth of shares in the Internet social networking company last week, cashing out most of his stake, according to a regulatory filing. Thiel sold his shares on Thursday and Friday at average prices ranging between $ 19.27 and $ 20.69 per share after the end of the first lockup, which barred early investors and insiders from selling shares following the initial public offering. The sales, in which Thiel sold roughly 20 million Facebook shares, were conducted as a result of a trading plan that Thiel entered into on May [...]

Facebook Inc (FB) director Peter Thiel sold roughly 20 million shares in the Internet social networking company last week, cashing out the majority of his stake, according to a regulatory filing. Thiel sold his shares on Thursday and Friday, at prices ranging between $ 19.27 and $ 20.69 per share, as the first “lock-up” barring early investors and insiders from selling shares after the initial public offering was lifted. Facebook, founded by Mark Zuckerberg in his Harvard University dorm room, became the only U.S. company to debut with a market value of more than $ 100 billion. But investors have [...]

Shares of Facebook (FB) tumbled another 6% and broke below $ 20 to fresh all-time lows on Thursday amid the expiration of restrictions that had prevented early backers of the social network from jumping ship. The latest retreat leaves the Mark Zuckerberg company’s shares trading almost 50% below their public debut of $ 38 almost three months ago. Questions swirled ahead of the high-profile initial public offering about Facebook’s lofty valuation, with critics focusing on the company’s struggles to monetize its mobile growth and the effectiveness of its ads. Since being crowned with a stunning IPO valuation of $ 104 [...]