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Top 10 News Items 1/30-2/3: Friday Jobs Report Blows Out Expectations; Facebook IPO Officially Filed; Amazon's Q4 Disappoints

February 3, 2012 4:14 PM EST
Here is a recap of the top news items from this week on Wall Street:

1. The Facebook IPO was an obvious #1 on the top ten....... until Friday's blowout jobs report. 243,000 payrolls were added in the nonfarm sector, 257,000 were added in the private sector and, in the manufacturing sector, about 50,000 jobs were added. Economists were expecting a nonfarm reading of 140,000 additions, private additions of 160,000 and manufacturing adds of just 12,000. The unemployment rate fell nicely from 8.5 percent in December to 8.3 percent in January. US stocks rose more than 1 percent following the strong report.

2. The most highly anticipated IPO since Google was filed this week: Facebook. The SEC papers show the social media giant is looking to raise $5 billion in the offering. An NYSE or NASDAQ listing has not yet been announced. The company reported $3.711 billion in revenue for the year ended December 31, 2011, and a profit of $0.43 per diluted share. For those not fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to get in on the IPO, check out our list of sympathy plays related to Facebook.

3. Shares of Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) tumbled nearly 8 percent on Wednesday following a beat on the bottom line, a wide miss on the top line and guidance which seemed very conservative. Fourth-quarter earnings were 38 cents per share on sales of $17.4 billion. The online retailer sees first-quarter 2012 revenue of $12-$13.4 billion, versus the consensus of $13.41 billion.

4. Green Mountain (Nasdaq: GMCR) shares jumped 24 percent on Thursday following strong first-quarter results. The company reported EPS of $0.60, $0.24 better than the analyst estimate of $0.36. Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.16 billion versus the consensus estimate of $1.06 billion. Most analysts boosted price targets on estimates on the stock following the results.

5. Elsewhere on the earnings front: Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), UPS (NYSE: UPS), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), Chipotle (NYSE: CMG), Kellogg (NYSE: K), Wynn (Nasdaq: WYNN) and Clorox (NYSE: CLX).

6. Micron (NYSE: MU) issued a statement late Friday announcing the company's respected Chairman and CEO Steve Appleton died in a small plane accident in Boise. In the statement, Micron said, "Our hearts go out to his wife, Dalynn, his children and his family during this tragic time." Micron shares were halted and had not reopened by the close on Friday.

7. Thomas & Betts (NYSE: TNB) shares rallied 23 percent on Monday following news of a $72 per share cash bid from ABB (NYSE: ABB). ABB shares fell about 3 percent on that day, but moved higher each day following.

8. NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) officially terminated its merger with Deutsche Boerse this week. After falling Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, shares closed higher on Thursday and Friday.

9. Shares of Polypore (NYSE: PPO) were whacked 30 percent on Tuesday of this week following rumors customer LG Chem is planning its own separator plant. Several analyst firms defended Polypore. The stock rose 8 percent on Wednesday, another 6 percent on Thursday and closed the week on Friday up another 7 percent.

10. According to data from Retail Metrics this week, retail sales for the month of January rose 4 percent, better than the 3 percent expected by the market-research firm. Click here for a summary of the same-store sales, or go to our Retail Sales category to get more details on each retailers monthly data.


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StreetInsider.com Top 10 News Items for the Week, Earnings, NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Boerse Merger