I have no idea if that's a lot or not, but it's pretty impressive to build a system capable of doing that.
[1] -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Indexes#Annual_reconsti...
Markets usually sell off on the last day of the week before heading into the weekend; i.e. traders don't (usually) like holding positions for two days more than they have to.
I think it's important to factor this into any discussion of Facebook's trading debut.
I personally would be waiting to see who things fair next week/monday.
[addendum] I'm quite surprised the IPO was set for a Friday because of this.
The data I've seen show that Fridays finish higher about 52% of the time.
Here are a couple sources:
http://traderfeed.blogspot.com/2008/01/2007-stock-market-ret...
http://www.equityclock.com/2010/02/16/best-day-of-the-week-t...
Separate note: Considering Facebook is up 10-20% from the previous month on second market while the broader market was down quite a bit, it didn't do that badly.
When you consider that we still have the issues in Europe, growing losses at JP Morgan, and a weak economic recovery hanging over our heads, things don't look too promising for the market as a whole. I can see a high probability of Facebook moving with the rest of the market. That's not investment advice. It's just the way I see things.
If Facebook does well, the market will recover. If Facebook has another highly visible stumble, it could trigger a broader sell-off.
I know better than to make blind predictions about market prices, but trouble with individual securities has been known to tank the entire market.
For example, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friday_the_13th_mini-crash .
See the peaks at 4:24, 4:52, 5:10PM pacific? Nearly a million shares changing hands after hours >10% above the official closing price for the day? That is some strange stuff on IPO day.
I have no idea which way FB will head on Monday but am pretty sceptical that this is at all relevant to their 1st day performance. I wouldn't base optimism specifically on the viewpoint
EDIT: Actually, the order did go through (annoyingly, at $42). The delay was just in the reporting. So never mind.
However, I was able to purchase stock just fine via tdameritrade.
Trading "glitch", or engineered opportunity? Any smart person can make a small fortune off of a delta. As I always say, if there is a way to make money, somebody, somewhere, is going to figure out how to do it.
