Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Facebook Hype Indicate Peak? Year 2000 Worse

The highly-hyped stock of Facebook is trading down today (May 21) in its second day of trading. The first day, it was flat, surprising some analysts, who expected it to leap -- typical for hot new issues of stock, particularly in tech. Facebook may have gone public at 3 times realistic value, and some think this may indicate a frothy top in the overall stock market, but the experience in San Diego in the late 1990s and 2000 suggests that it could be much worse.

Those were the days when initial public offerings (IPOs) would routinely triple the first day. Wireless Facilities went public Nov. 5, 1999 at $15; the first trade was at $37.50 and the stock closed that day at $62. It has now changed its focus to defense under the name Kratos, and this morning is trading at $5.22. Enzyme maker Diversa went public Feb. 14 of 2000 at $24. The first trade was $54.50 and the first-day closing price $75. It has gone through permutations, once moved to Massachusetts, returned to San Diego, and is now trading at $3.27 under the name Verenium. MP3.com went public in mid-1999 at $28 and the first trade was at $92. It was later sold for $5 a share. Websense went public in 2000 at $18, the first trade was $34.50 and it closed at $47.75 that day. It's now at $18.69, but at least has survived and done well. A winner of sorts was biotech Illumina, which went public in 2000 at $16, closing the first day at $39.17. The stock then plunged, but is now back up to $43.44, and is a successful company.

U.S. stocks and bonds are both overvalued because of the madcap creation of money by the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world. But things aren't as crazy as they were in the late 1990s and 2000. (On the other hand, back then, Europe was not on the brink of falling apart, as it is today.)

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Temperature inversions bring smoggy weather, "ankle biters" still biting

Near-new moon will lead to a dark Halloween

The highly-hyped stock of Facebook is trading down today (May 21) in its second day of trading. The first day, it was flat, surprising some analysts, who expected it to leap -- typical for hot new issues of stock, particularly in tech. Facebook may have gone public at 3 times realistic value, and some think this may indicate a frothy top in the overall stock market, but the experience in San Diego in the late 1990s and 2000 suggests that it could be much worse.

Those were the days when initial public offerings (IPOs) would routinely triple the first day. Wireless Facilities went public Nov. 5, 1999 at $15; the first trade was at $37.50 and the stock closed that day at $62. It has now changed its focus to defense under the name Kratos, and this morning is trading at $5.22. Enzyme maker Diversa went public Feb. 14 of 2000 at $24. The first trade was $54.50 and the first-day closing price $75. It has gone through permutations, once moved to Massachusetts, returned to San Diego, and is now trading at $3.27 under the name Verenium. MP3.com went public in mid-1999 at $28 and the first trade was at $92. It was later sold for $5 a share. Websense went public in 2000 at $18, the first trade was $34.50 and it closed at $47.75 that day. It's now at $18.69, but at least has survived and done well. A winner of sorts was biotech Illumina, which went public in 2000 at $16, closing the first day at $39.17. The stock then plunged, but is now back up to $43.44, and is a successful company.

U.S. stocks and bonds are both overvalued because of the madcap creation of money by the Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world. But things aren't as crazy as they were in the late 1990s and 2000. (On the other hand, back then, Europe was not on the brink of falling apart, as it is today.)

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Dow Plunges 348 -- but Recovers from Near 1,000 Drop

Next Article

San Diego's biotechs soared, then came down to reality

Look at San Diego's Diversa, Sequenom, and Jonas Salk's Immune Response
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader