Social Networking, Ipo | featured news

Massachusetts' securities regulator fined Morgan Stanley $5 million over its handling of Facebook's IPO, saying investment bankers had "improper influence" over the research analysts covering Facebook.

Foursquare is having troubles convincing investors that its valuation shouldn't shrink, a sign of a cooling toward social media startups in the wake of Facebook's messy initial public offering.

Tech investors are sidling up to the bar again after the "Facebook hangover," only this time they are minding their P's and Q's. "In a sense, the tech IPOs are back," said Francis Gaskins, president of IPODesktop.com. Only seven tech or Internet companies have gone public since Facebook's IPO; by comparison, Gaskins said now there are 20 technology companies in the IPO pipeline. The difference is that the offerings are smaller and priced to lure institutional investors rather than emotion-driven retail investors.

UBS decried a proposal from Nasdaq to make up losses for firms damaged in the Facebook stock-market debut, joining a growing chorus of Wall Street players that are calling on regulators to reject the exchange operator's plan.

Facebook's beleaguered stock has lost more than half of its value since its initial public offering three months ago. Facebook Inc. hit a new low of $18.75 before bouncing back to $19.01 - down 4 cents - in morning trading Monday. The social networking icon's much-anticipated IPO turned sour amid technical problems on the NASDAQ stock market and high expectations. The stock has not surpassed its $38 IPO price since its first trading day.

Facebook’s stock price reached a new low Thursday as shares of the world's largest social network fell below $20 for the first time, down by nearly half from its $38 initial public offering price.

Facebook went public last month on its prospects for growth. But in some areas, the social network's growth rates are already maturing. In particular, Facebook's user growth rate in the U.S. is slowing sharply. In April, U.S. unique visitors to the website increased to 158 million, up just 5% from a year earlier, according to research firm comScore Inc.

UBS is sitting on losses that could be as high as $350 million stemming from its investment in the Facebook initial public offering, and is preparing legal action against Nasdaq as a result, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc said it will offer cash and rebates totaling $40 million to compensate clients affected by the problems with Facebook Inc's initial public offering.

Facebook’s post-IPO performance has been poor. But is it so poor that it will hurt the prospects for other startups? The short answer: Almost certainly.