Remember when Facebook was a $100 billion company? It was just seven months ago, but it must feel like an eternity for the brokers and retail investors who tripped over themselves to get a piece of this generation's biggest IPO.
Since going public in May at $38 a share, Facebook stock has traveled in one direction: down. The stock bottomed out around $17 before rising to a more respectable $27, which values the company at $60 billion, a far cry from its initial appraisal. There was talk of bankers bungling the offering, and similar indiscretions. But that only distracts from the truth that putting a mega-valuation on a company as young as Facebook usually has negative consequences.
One curious development in the whole brouhaha was former Internet stock promoter Henry Blodget sounding a cautious note about Facebook's rich IPO. He asked what giddy investors were seeing that he wasn't. It turns, not much.
It's been a strong year for stocks, and these ten Fortune 500 companies have outshined the broader market. Nearly all of them have doubled. From Bank of America to Whirlpool, here are the biggest winners.
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