Four Things You Need to Know About Facebook’s IPO Today

Facebook went public today. Here are the four big things you need to know:

#1.)  The valuation is crazy. Facebook is valued at $104 BILLION. That's the biggest valuation ever for an American company making its Initial Public Offering.

#2.)  The stock will be $38...but not for you. The final price for the stock in the IPO is $38 a share.  But virtually no individual investors will be able to get their hands on the stock at $38.  Only big firms and preferred investors will get that price.

BUT... if you want Facebook stock, you CAN get it.  After the IPO tomorrow when the shares start trading, you can buy it like stock in any other company.  But you can expect the initial wave and massive hype to drive the price up.

#3.)  It's probably a bad investment for you. With popular companies like Facebook, the share prices SKYROCKET.  Virtually every investment expert will advise that you should wait until the hype dies down to buy a few shares.

#4.)  There are going to be a LOT of new rich people. The offering will create 1,000 brand new millionaires overnight.  And Mark Zuckerberg will be worth $19 billion.  But if the stock price surges, he might end up being worth TWICE that:  $40 BILLION.

That would instantly make him the second richest American, behind Bill Gates at $59 billion and just ahead of Warren Buffett, at $39 billion.

(WSJ / Fox)