Stanford sentenced 110 years in jail

A federal court in Houston has sentenced R. Allen Stanford, Former jet-setting Texas tycoon, to 110 years in prison for his involvement in a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, according to reports on Thursday.

Federal prosecutors had asked the court to sentence Stanford to 230 years. Stanford, the former principal of Standford Financial Group, was convicted of fraud in March.

Facebook shares fell below $30 for first time

Facebook Inc. continued its post-debut plunge, but semiconductor
stocks kept the tech sector afloat in Tuesday trades.

Facebook was down another 8%, falling to $29.44, more than 20% off its
initial public offering price.

Facebook Raises $16 Billion at IPO Price $38

Facebook Inc. set its final price at $38 a share, as the social network gets ready for its initial public offering on Friday. At $38 a share, Facebook is valued at $104 billion, the biggest-ever valuation by an American company at the time of its offering.

Facebook is set to raise $16 billion from its IPO, becoming third-largest public offering in the history of the United States, behind General Motors and Visa.

On Friday, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder, is set to ring the opening bell for the Nasdaq from Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., surrounded by executives, engineers and other employees. Shares of Facebook, which will trade under the ticker FB, will start selling to the public later in the morning. Read more “Facebook Raises $16 Billion at IPO Price $38”

Moody's lowered ratings of 16 Spanish banks

Moody's Investors Service on Thursday lowered ratings of 16 Spanish banks and Banco Santander's U.K.-based subsidiary by one to three notches.

Moody's cited unfavorable operating conditions on renewed recession, reduced creditworthiness of the Spanish sovereign, and rapid deterioration in asset quality for the downgrades.

The outlooks on ten of the banks are negative while ratings of seven other banks remain on review for further downgrade. Some of the affected banks include Banco Santander SA, Banco Espanol de Credito, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA, Caixabank, and Ceca.

Criminal probe into $2B trading loss at JPMorgan

The Justice Department has initiated a criminal probe into the JPMorgan Chase’ $2 billion trading loss revealed last Thursday, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the situation.

The news came as Jamie Dimon, the embattled chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, faced questions from shareholders Tuesday.

Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings last Friday downgraded J.P. Morgan Chase rating because of the $2 billion loss on derivatives

Dow at highest level since late 2007

U.S. stocks rose Tuesday, propelling the Dow Jones Industrial Average
to its highest close since late 2007, after a report indicated U.S.
manufacturing expanded in April, offsetting concern about the economic
recovery.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA rose 65.69 points, or 0.5%, to 13,279.32.

The S&P 500 SPX added 7.91 points, or 0.6%, to 1,405.82.

The Nasdaq Composite COMP gained 4.08 points, or 0.1%, to 3,050.44

Different Ways Index Funds Are Weighted

You invest in index funds, but do you know that different index funds are weighted in a different way? Whatever type of index fund or funds you choose, make sure you understand the methodology, so you can stay away from an investment that doesn't behave the way you expected.

Although index funds seem to track anything and everything, there are a few primary ways of constructing them, from conventional market-cap weighting to alternative methods such as equal, fundamental, or price weighting. (read full article "How Index Funds Are Weighted" on SmartInMoney.com)

Cap-Weighted Indexing
By far the most common method of indexing is through market-cap weighting, in which the amount of each stock held is proportionate to its market value, or capitalization. So if a stock's market cap makes up 6% of an index, it also makes up 6% of the fund's portfolio.

Equal-Weighted Indexing
All stocks are held in equal proportion regardless of market cap. So, for example, an equal-weighted S&P 500 fund would still include the same 500 stocks as the cap-weighted version, but in equal amounts--in this case each making up 0.2% of the index.

Fundamental Indexing
Stocks are weighted based on a fundamental metric or metrics, such as dividend yield, earnings, book value, or a combination of factors.

Price-Weighted Indexing
Stocks are weighted by the share price for each company in the index, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average the most famous example.