- Posted by QFINANCE Editor, May 24, 2012
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Each week QFINANCE.com brings you some of the biggest news stories from the past five days in finance and business – essential reading to keep you up to date with latest topics.
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Friday May 18
The long waited Facebook IPO was finally launched last Friday with a share price of $38 and a $104bn valuation of the company. This puts Facebook into the ranks of the top 25 American companies. Although its advertising and mobile strategies were criticized by a lot of people, the demand for shares has surpassed most of the predictions.The rest of the week wasn’t as good as expected though, with the Facebook stock straddling the breakeven line on Thursday, 15% down from IPO.
More on the FT
Monday May 21
Ahead of the EU summit and the discussions around euro bonds, Hollande’s attitude has raised pressure on Angela Merkel as he promises to push towards a proposal for mutualising the European debt. Germany backed with Finland and the Netherland has urged for more efforts and opposed any early move.
More on Reuters
Tuesday May 22
ICM poll in the UK revealed on Tuesday that 72% believed Greece will leave the single currency. While David Cameron's personal rating were at its lowest, the OECD warned that the area's debt crisis could pull it into a vicious downward spiral. On a different note, the IMF has asked the UK to consider more quantitative easing (QE) and further cuts of its interest rates.
More on the WSJ
More on BBC
Wednesday May 23
In the UK, following a big drop in fuel sales, newly published figures showed a considerable fall of retail sales volumes by 2.3% in April. After a rise of 2% in March, it seems the retail sector was largely affected by the unusual and continuous bad weather conditions in the country in the past month.
More on the BBC
Thursday May 24
New economic surveys released on Thursdays confirmed that the EU economy’s contraction was the fastest in the past three years. In the UK, it seems the economy has shrank more than predicted and previously thought, as ONS figures showed a contraction of 0.3% in the first three months of this year.
More on the FT
More on BBCCome back next Thursday for another report on the world of business and finance.
Tags: central banks , European Central Bank , European Monetary Union , eurozone , financial crisis , France , Germany , Goldman Sachs , Greece , IMF , International Monetary Fund , regulation , sovereign debt , Spain , stocks and shares , UK
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