In The News...

There are no economic reports due for release today but the big news is the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of social networking site Facebook (FB). The shares were priced at $38 last night and will begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock market at around 11:00am ET.

An Initial Public Offering is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. The reasons can be two fold - IPOs are a vehicle to fund small growing companies that are looking for capital to expand while older larger companies may be seeking to be publicly traded.

The month of May has been bad for Stocks as measured by the S&P 500 Index. The closely watched index has fallen nearly 6.5% this month due to softer than expected economic data along with the ongoing European financial crisis.

The weakness in the Stock markets has shifted investing dollars over into the safe haven of U.S. government securities pushing yields to record low levels. The yield on the 10-Year Treasury Note fell to 1.72%. The recent move lower in Stocks is due in part to the fall in shares of Apple Inc., which has led the tech sector lower. Another factor are the big trading losses at JPMorgan Chase, which added to a sell-off in the broader markets as well as the financial sector.

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