What's going on Alibaba's IPO D-Day?

$93.89 was where Alibaba stock closed its first day of trading Friday. 

The stock traded as high as $99.70 before drifting lower to finish the day...

By Greg Guenthner, Sept 22, 2014

It's off to the races!

All eyes were on Alibaba (NYSE:BABA) Friday morning as the record-breaking IPO finally started trading. Thanks to order imbalances, the exchange delayed the opening of trading for more than two hours. But even with the extra wait, investors impatiently gobbled up shares...

Early Friday morning, it looked as if BABA would begin trading around $80. That was moved to $83. Then, they raised it again. All told, the offering price ticked higher nearly a dozen times before BABA finally started trading. And when the stock started moving, you could see just how strong demand really was...

About 100 million shares of BABA exchanged hands during the first 20 minutes of trading, according to multiple reports. By the end of the day, more than 270 million shares had traded.

Of course, media reports on the IPO almost all touted the demand--and stock's 38% gain from its offering price. While it's true that BABA did jump nearly 40% in its first day of trading, there's no way your average investor captured any of these gains. In fact, if you bought BABA when it first began trading you're actually sitting on a loss right now...

BABA's big opening push actually faded as the day wore on. So if you bought as shares ticked toward $99, you'd be sitting on a loss of about 5% right now--not exactly the huge daytrading gains touted in the IPO-obsessed media reports.

There could be plenty of opportunities to trade Alibaba stock. But only if you're patient. Let's wait for this red-hot name to get some price history under its belt before we consider picking up shares... 

Greg Guenthner heads up Agora Financial’s small-cap division and is the founder of one of the only independent OTC research advisories in the industry. A graduate of George Mason University, Guenthner joined Agora in 2005 after several years as a journalist.

   

Alibaba IPO via NYSE

Alibaba Market Cap Tops $225 Billion on IPO Debut, Passing Facebook
By Seth Fiegerman, Sep 19, 2014

Watch out, Facebook, you've got company in the $200 billion club.

After a two-hour delay on Friday morning, Alibaba stock began trading at $92.70 a share, well above its IPO price of $68 a share, giving the company a market cap of nearly $230 billion. That puts Alibaba value significantly above Amazon's market valuation, a company it's often compared to, and on par with Facebook.

See also: Alibaba: What You Should Know About the Most-Hyped IPO of the Year

Alibaba raised $21.8 billion from its public offering, making it the largest U.S. IPO of all time and further establishing the company as a giant on the world stage. The company is now trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock ticker "BABA."

Alibaba's market cap is larger than all tech companies,
except for Apple, Google and Microsoft

Image: FactSet

Jack Ma, the founder behind the Chinese ecommerce giant, flashed the thumbs up sign to onlookers as he entered the historic stock exchange to kick off the first day of trading for his company. Once inside the exchange, Ma took pictures with reporters and talked up his long, improbable journey from English teacher to the richest man in China, which started with his discovering the Internet in Seattle nearly 20 years ago.

At one point, Ma exhibited some of his characteristic quirkiness by telling CNBC that his hero is Forrest Gump. "The hero I had was Forrest Gump," Ma said in the interview, to the shock of his interviewers, one of whom asked if Ma knew Gump was a fictional character. "I really like that guy," Ma continued. "I've been watching that movie for about 10 times. Every time when I'm frustrated, I watch the movie. And I watched movie before I came here."

However, when it came time to ring the bell to kick off the trading day, Ma decided to watch from the sidelines. Instead, a group of eight customers rang the bell, highlighting Alibaba's focus on the customer.

"Who are the people we should be thankful? We say we thank the customers. We thank the young - it's the people. It's not us," Ma told Bloomberg TV on Friday. "So that's why we put the young people there and the customers because we believe after 15 years the purpose of working so hard is that we want to make these people successful because when they're successful our success is a result."

Over the years, Ma has repeatedly emphasized that it's the customers who come first, followed by employees and only then shareholders.

"I have said on numerous occasions that we will put 'customers first, employees second and shareholders third,'" Ma wrote in a letter to investors, including with Alibaba's IPO paperwork. "I can see that investors who hear this for the first time may find it a bit hard to understand. Let me be clear: as fiduciaries of the company, we believe that the only way for Alibaba to create long-term value for shareholders is to create sustainable value for customers. So customers must come first."

Alibaba's $21.8 billion public offering was far more than the $16 billion that Facebook raised and topped Visa's $17.8 billion IPO, which previously held the title of biggest in U.S. history.

Ref:  http://infogr.am/the-largest-us-ipos-ever?src=web

The company is expected to use some of the proceeds from its IPO to fuel a global expansion into the United States and Europe. The public offering will also provide a windfall to Yahoo, which has a 22.4% stake in the company thanks to a $1 billion investment in 2005. That will provide Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer with additional resources for big acquisitions.

Ma founded Alibaba with 18 friends in his one-bedroom apartment in 1999. His goal was to use the Internet to change China and help small businesses in the country connect with markets abroad. Along the way, he butted heads with giants like eBay and was repeatedly called crazy for his vision to build a global ecommerce company.

Alibaba is now the largest ecommerce service in China with 279 million active buyers and $2.54 billion in revenue during the June quarter of this year.

"Well we had a big dinner last night," Ma told Bloomberg TV when asked how he and his cofounders celebrated the IPO. "And everybody cried."

Source:  http://mashable.com/2014/09/19/alibaba-ipo-day/
Mashable is a leading source for news, information & resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's 34 million monthly unique visitors and 14 million social media followers have become one of the most engaged digital networks in the world.

Top 7 Non-Financial Skills Required In Finance

Did you know that having top-notch mathematical skills and financial knowledge are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to excelling as a financial professional? Mitch Pisik, who has held numerous senior management positions including the CEO role of Beckwell Products and has more than 20 years of experience in business development, operations, and finance, advises that "the accounting/financial aspect of the job is the floor - not the ceiling."

In other words, if you can't perform the other basic functions of your job, you won't make it. In order to stick around and get ahead in finance, check out the essential non-financial skills you need to master. (Without some basic knowledge, you won't get the job. Find out what you need to know and how to prepare in Top Things To Know For An Investment Banking Interview.)

The Non-Financial Skills You Need to Succeed in Finance

1. Communication Skills
Financial professionals can't just be good at crunching numbers - they must be able to communicate their knowledge with strong speaking, writing and presentation skills.

Beverly D. Flaxington, author of "7 Steps to Effective Business Building for Financial Advisors," says that when you are presenting to a board, an investor or a prospect, you need to know how to convey complex information in a way people can easily understand. (To learn more, read 7 Courses Finance Students Should Take.)

2. Relationship-Management Skills
The people skills you need to succeed as a financial professional include understanding different personality types, listening, asking the right questions, resolving conflicts, educating others and counseling clients.

Financial planner Judith Cane of Ontario-based Antara Financial Group says that success in finance is "15% technical knowledge and 85% psychology. When people come to see me it's because they have issues with money. They spend too much, they don't save anything or they save everything." What clients often need, therefore, is an unbiased advisor who can understand their needs and help them make financial decisions.

Managing relationships is key whether you're dealing with subordinates, co-workers, bosses or people outside your company. When people trust you, like you and feel that you respect them, they will want to help you succeed, whether it's by speaking highly of you, promoting you or signing up to be your client. (For more on the importance of relationship-building, see Small Business: It's All About Relationships.)

3. Marketing and Sales Skills
Robert L. Riedl, director of wealth management for Sumnicht Associates in Appleton, Wisconsin, says financial professionals need to be able to market their professional skills and knowledge to prospects in their niche markets. To do so, it's imperative to have a complete understanding of both your personal strengths and your firm's professional strengths.

He further advises that in marketing yourself to clients, you shouldn't just communicate how much you know, but also how much you care, because "the client's most valuable assets and their biggest daily concern is not their monetary wealth, but rather their family." Clients want to know that you can help them manage their money to best provide for their family's long-term needs. (For more on marketing in financial careers read The Marketing Director's Pitch and Generational Marketing: Harvest The Whole Family Tree.)

4. Project Management Ability, Organizational Skills and Attention to Detail
Any task that takes more than a few minutes is essentially a project - one that you'll need to manage effectively to be profitable. You'll need to efficiently and effectively schedule your time, manage budgets, meet deadlines and get what you need from other people in time to complete your project successfully.

Both during and after any project, staying organized and paying attention to detail are also key.

Corporate finance professional Myles Wolfe says, "For any analytical project, someone will usually have questions about the inputs and assumptions. If you can't deliver timely backup information, even if it is 100% accurate, people will question the accuracy of the final output."

He says it's critical to have both your electronic files and hard copies organized to access information quickly. You might get asked a question months after your initial analysis by a CFO who needs the information in 30 minutes for a conference call.

"Especially in the financial world, sloppiness is intolerable," he says.

5. Problem-Solving Skills
You will always encounter problems in any job, and being able to solve them rather than cracking under pressure is essential.

To get ahead, it can also be helpful to look beyond your own personal responsibilities. Pisik advises that by helping your coworkers solve their problems rather than simply reporting them to upper management, you'll be viewed as a team player.

"People will gravitate toward you and your career will flourish," he says.

6. Technological Savvy
No matter where you work, you will need to be proficient with computer hardware and software and able to pick up new programs related to your job quickly.

The more shortcuts, keys, programs and functions you know in Excel, the better off you will be in finance. You should also get familiar with marketing and communication software tools. (Swimming in a sea of numbers? Find out how to crunch them quickly! Check out Microsoft Excel Features For The Financially Literate.)

7. Tenacity and Ethics
A competitive personality, passion for your work and the stamina to work long hours and go above and beyond what's expected of you and what your co-workers and competitors are doing are all crucial to success in finance. At the same time, you can't be so competitive that you make poor choices, or your career and reputation will suffer.

Kevin R. Keller, CEO of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, says that adhering to a set of ethical standards such as those required of certified financial planners (CFPs) is crucial to rebuilding the trust that has been broken by financial scandals.

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards' Standards of Professional Conduct requires CFPs to provide professional services with integrity, objectivity, competence, fairness, confidentiality, professionalism and diligence. Anyone who works in finance would be wise to hold himself or herself to principles such as these. (For more food for thought on ethics in finance, read Ethical Issues For Financial Advisors and 8 Ethics Guidelines For Brokers.)

Anticipation
Looking ahead to what bosses or clients will need from you in the immediate or even the distant future will help you rise to the top. It's not enough to just solve the day-to-day challenges of your job; you must be able to think long term. Consider the following:

• What skills can you develop and what accomplishments can you put under your belt that will get you rehired if you are laid off, land you a promotion at your current company or get your foot in the door at another company?
• How can you make your boss's life easier by anticipating what he or she will need from you tomorrow, next week or next month and taking care of it ahead of time?
• How can you develop relationships with your clients by paying close attention to their situations? For example, if you notice that the woman who has come to you for help managing an inheritance is pregnant, realizing that she could need help saving and investing for her child's college education, updating her will and possibly creating a trust can help you create a long-term business relationship with that client.

Putting It All Together: Wisdom and Interpretation
Los Angeles-based writing consultant Elizabeth B. Danziger, founder of Worktalk Communications Consulting and author of "Get to the Point!", says, "Clients of financial-service professionals are looking for more than knowledge and numbers: They're looking for wisdom and interpretation."

By combining your ability to analyze numbers with skills like communication, project management and relationship development, you'll emerge as a leader and position yourself to rise to the top of your field. (Experience and hard work go a long way toward securing a position in this challenging field.  See 10 Steps To A Career In Hedge Funds.)Bottom of Form

by Amy Fontinelle

Amy Fontinelle is a financial journalist and editor for a variety of websites, public policy organizations, and book publishers. She has written hundreds of published articles and blog posts on topics including budgeting, credit management, real estate and investing. Her articles have been featured on the homepage of Yahoo! and on Yahoo! Finance, Forbes.com, SFGate.com and numerous local news websites.

Source: www.investopedia.com

6 High-Value Skills That Will Supplement Your Career

If you're lucky enough to be a specialist in your field, you're ahead of the curve. Whether you're a marketer, accountant, writer, artist or engineer, you're more competitive with a refined skill-base. Beyond knowing the language and general trends of your trade, you need to be able to produce something of high value and economic necessity. Give yourself a competitive advantage by augmenting your talents with a new skill

Mobile App Creation
This innovative and growing field is an area where comparatively few people specialize, and it is a niche that can support a variety of skill sets. At face value, the strongest demand seems to exist for programmers and developers; however, in actuality, product design incorporates a range of talents. To succeed, a stellar mobile app needs expertise from writers, marketers and people who are visually inclined. No matter your niche, you can find a complementary specialty in this field.

Web Development
The Internet industry is one field where creative talents are in high demand. If you're an artist or writer, you may notice that there is plenty of opportunity to find work that is high in demand. If you develop a range of technical skills, you'll be able to see the bigger picture. If you're a graphic designer, blogger or writer, you'd benefit from learning a programming language for the web.

Blogging
No matter your area of expertise, the ability to blog is valuable. For instance, you could contribute to an influential blog in your industry – quite possibly for compensation. You can also maintain your own blog to attract prospective clients and employers. Beyond functioning as a networking tool, blogging can help you reflect upon and organize your insights.

Data Analysis
With the growth in online shopping, social media, advertising and mobile development, the Internet is creating new windows of opportunity to analyze data. No matter your job function and industry – whether you are an artist, writer, healthcare professional or something else entirely, a solid understanding of data will give you a competitive edge in your role. You don't need to be a data expert, but strive to have an understanding beyond basic percentages to evaluate nuances and presentation strategies.

Coding
The value of programming stems beyond the fields of software development and engineering. By learning a programming language, you will become a more efficient marketer or financial analyst. While you don't need to learn these techniques to perform your job function, you'll only serve to gain a competitive advantage by diversifying your skill set. At the very least, you'll develop a core understanding of the communication skills that you need to collaborate cross-functionally, outside of your department or main area of expertise. No matter how you apply your coding skills, you'll be in a position to perform tasks more efficiently.

Networking
Today's most successful organizations thrive on the combined expertise of many types of people. Whether or not you realize it, strong networks make you exponentially more valuable. If you need help or if you need to find someone to help you accomplish a goal, you can always rely on your network to help you find the answer. As you grow in your career, your network will give you the competitive edge that you need when job-hunting for a high-paying position.

The Bottom Line
If none of these options appeal to you, look at market trends to see where needs exist and skills are highest in demand. Then, work on building that skill. With practice, you'll become proficient enough to increase your market worth in any job function. After all, when you perform more efficiently, you increase your ROI.

by Ritika Puri

Based in Los Angeles, Ritika has lived her entire life in some of the most expensive areas of the United States. Instead of giving in to high costs of living, she has developed effective budgeting strategies to help her get the most out of her money, whether she's shopping for basic necessities or giving in to her ultimate guilty pleasure - shopping for clothes.

Source: www.investopedia.com

6 Free Ways To Learn New Job Skills

To advance to the next step in your career, it's important that you keep yourself educated. No matter how bad the economy gets, there will always be a need for people with strong technical skills; keep yours on the cutting edge and you'll be able to gain a major advantage over other job seekers. Unfortunately, attaining new certifications or academic degrees can be prohibitively expensive.

The good news is if you’re not ready to make a big financial investment, there are baby steps available to help keep you on your toes. Check out these eight online options that can help you learn a new skill for free.

1. Mozilla Drumbeat's School of Webcraft

This program gives new meaning to the expression "learn from your peers". School of Webcraft is a peer to peer service that provides free online courses in programming and web development. Instructors are industry professionals who volunteer to teach courses, and students can include anyone and everyone. In the past, topics have included HTML5, FireFox add-on development and introduction to PHP. These web programming skills are applicable and relevant to today's job market. You can even recommend courses that you'd like to see.

2. SPSS Video Tutor
Jacob Mays is the market researcher who developed SPSS Video Tutor as a free resource for students and professionals who are struggling to learn this high-demand software. For those who are unfamiliar with SPSS, the program is widely used in consulting, market research and academia. While the program itself is expensive, there is an open source equivalent - PSPP - that has many of the same functionalities. As long as you're clever and creative, you should be able to apply the SPSS video tutorials to PSPP as well.

3. YouTube
While you might enjoy YouTube for its viral videos, you may not realize how valuable the service is for educational materials. For instance, if you're trying to become better-acquainted with Microsoft Excel, you'll likely find some helpful video resources from amateurs and professional instructors alike.

4. Open Source Software
If you've looked at job descriptions recently, you've probably noticed the demand for skills in various types of software. There's so much software out there, so it's impossible for one person to master them all. And, while you may want to teach yourself some programs, you probably don't have the money to spend to buy and use the software. Instead, find open source equivalents to your favorite software. For instance, you could look at Open Analytics for web data. You could also use QGIS as an alternative to ArcGIS, which is a program for creating maps for various types of research. If you're into statistics, you can use R instead of SAS if you want to enhance your statistical programming skills.

In a job interview, being familiar with these open source programs, what they are and how they work could be enough to help you get a job that involves using their paid equivalents - even if only because you put in the effort to learn them.

5. A Library Card
Instead of buying books to help you learn new job skills, borrow them. You'll learn the same skills without spending the extra money.

6. MeetUp.com
As an industry professional, you’ve probably come to value your peers - working as a team can produce amazing results. If you thrive on mentorship and learning from those around you, you stand to benefit from meeting new people and expanding your career network. Check out MeetUp.com, a network of local groups (career and otherwise) to connect with like-minded professionals in your area. If there isn't a group available where you live yet, consider starting your own.

The Bottom Line
There are plenty of ways to learn and advance your skill set without the expense of heading back to school. Check out these resources to increase your competitive edge and value in the job market.

by Ritika Puri

Based in Los Angeles, Ritika has lived her entire life in some of the most expensive areas of the United States. Instead of giving in to high costs of living, she has developed effective budgeting strategies to help her get the most out of her money, whether she's shopping for basic necessities or giving in to her ultimate guilty pleasure - shopping for clothes.

Source: www.investopedia.com

6 Ways To Boost Your Human Capital

Imagine two millionaires in a room and assume that their net worth was exactly $1 million including all investments, estates and assets. Neither person had anything hidden and both were happily married. The only difference between the two was their age. One millionaire was 65 years old while the other was 30. Looking outside of their balance sheets, is one worth more than the other?

Because of the idea of human capital, the 30 year old may be worth more than the retirement age person because the young millionaire has many more years left in their life to increase the value of their first million. Human capital is our personal ability to increase our wealth, and although wealth isn't just measured in dollar signs, we'll focus on financial wealth today. Are you wondering how to increase your human capital? Here are a few ways.

Education
There are a lot of smart people writing about how the value of a college education may be less than it was, even one generation ago, but that may not be true. Education not only formally prepares us to work in advanced jobs, it also exercises our minds and allows us to hold on to our ability to continue learning. The brain, like the heart, needs exercise and that comes from education.

Be Well Rounded
Are you an architect who only knows architecture, a lawyer who doesn't know much more than the law or a carpenter who can only build? That's dangerous in an economy that wiped out an unprecedented amount of workers in the real estate and financial services industry in less than two years. Learn a new position in your current job or study an entirely new field.

Volunteer
Volunteering not only paints a picture of you as somebody who is passionate, but also as someone who is seen as trustworthy. Volunteering also increases your exposure to other people making your professional network larger. With the busy lifestyles that so many professionals lead, meeting people has become exceedingly difficult.

Write
People who write about their field of work gain credibility as an expert. You could publish your work in journals, professional blogs or newspapers looking to offer advice to your readers. A well written article providing valuable information that isn't common knowledge will increase your network as people see you as an expert. It may take a lot of time if writing isn't your forte, but maybe writing is one of those new skills to learn in your journey to becoming more well rounded.

Public Speaking
Most careers have some degree of salesmanship where public speaking skills increase your chances of getting ahead. Learning to speak confidently, intelligently and in a way that makes people feel comfortable when they're around you is a key to the next step on your career ladder.

Your job may not require you to make formal presentations or speak to large groups of people, but every job requires speaking to others and that is one of the best skills any career person can cultivate.

Don't Wait
As we learned with the story of the two millionaires, the longer you wait to get started, the more your human capital decreases. Time is something you can't control, and as you age you'll become even busier so hiding behind your business isn't going to get you to your goal. Start today.

Bottom Line
Along with these ideas, remember to take time to enjoy life, make healthy choices and put family first. We can't work forever, but taking time to enjoy life recharges you as you continue to raise your human capital.

by Tim Parker

Tim Parker has a Bachelors and Masters in Education and is the owner of ECS, a company specializing in financial and small business content for print and online media. His work is published on many of the best known media outlets as well as magazines, industry publications, and newspapers. He also runs breakingfinancenews.com and bibledollar.com. He loves all things creative and is passionate about volunteering in the nonprofit sector. Tim lives in Florida where he often sets up a mobile office on the Gulf of Mexico beaches.

Source: www.investopedia.com