Financial life in a big town

The most hyped IPO of the year is here, but you won’t be able to trade Facebook’s stock right when the market opens at 9:30 on Friday.

That’s because Facebook () will trade on the Nasdaq exchange, which doesn’t open up initial public offerings until a bit later in the trading session.

"It’s not a delay or a problem, just a matter of style," said a source familiar with Nasdaq’s process. "We want to have an IPO stand alone at its own special time."

The company in question — right now, that’s Facebook — can decide when to debut and works with Nasdaq to set the time. Technically, an IPO stock could even start trading in the afternoon, as long as it’s well before the closing bell at 4 p.m. ET.

But most recent Nasdaq IPOs have typically begun trading a few minutes before 11 a.m. ET. That’s when Groupon (), Zynga () and Angie’s List () made their debuts.

Still, the opening times vary. For example, Splunk () began trading on the Nasdaq at 11:20 a.m. on April 19. The next day, Proofpoint () opened at 10:25 a.m.

A representative from Nasdaq declined to comment on what time Facebook’s stock will open on Friday.

The trading site StreetInsider.com typically posts that information as soon as it’s available. StreetInsider editor Lon Juricic says the site gets its timing information after Nasdaq releases it to traders in the morning.

How it works: On the morning that an IPO begins trading on the Nasdaq, the exchange starts a process called the "IPO cross." During that time, traders can submit buy and sell orders. The Nasdaq matches up those orders in real-time on its electronic marketplace — a process that typically takes 40 microseconds or less.

Those orders can be entered into the system, but they aren’t actually completed until the stock begins trading.

"It’s really business as usual," a source close to Nasdaq said of the plans for Friday’s trading. "Same policies, same procedures. This time there are just more questions because it’s Facebook."

By comparison, the New York Stock Exchange starts trading IPOs soon after the opening bell. Recent IPOs LinkedIn (), Pandora (), Yelp () and Annie’s () all began trading on the NYSE by 10 a.m.

– CNNMoney’s Hibah Yousuf contributed reporting. 

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European markets bounced back from early losses on news that the 17-country eurozone has narrowly dodged recession, thanks mainly to strong growth in Germany, though concerns persisted that Greece’s political impasse could eventually force it to leave the currency bloc.

Official EU statistics showed the eurozone economy was flat in the first quarter compared with the previous three-month period, better than the 0.2 percent drop that analysts had been expecting. A drop would have put the eurozone technically back into recession, which is defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.

“In the current context, zero growth in the eurozone in the first quarter is relatively good news,” said Marie Diron, senior economic adviser at Ernst & Young. “It suggests that the economy is not falling off a cliff under the burden of fiscal austerity.”

Growth of 0.5 percent in Germany helped offset recessions in seven countries, including large economies like Spain and Italy. But such imbalances remain a worrying weakness in the eurozone. The most fragile economies are also those that are enacting the most punishing austerity measures to lower debt. The result is a currency union in which countries’ economic paths are diverging.

After earlier losses, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2 percent to 5,474 while Germany’s DAX was up 0.3 percent at 6,472 and France’s CAC-40 added 0.7 percent to 3,080. The euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.2852.

Wall Street was headed for a higher opening, with Dow Jones industrial futures rising 0.6 percent to 12,731 while S&P 500 futures adding 0.6 percent to 1,341.50.

The outlook for the eurozone remains darkened by the political crisis in Greece, where party leaders were struggling for a ninth day to form a coalition government.

No party won an outright majority in the May 6 election, causing an impasse that has raised questions about Greece’s ability to stay in the eurozone. Power-sharing efforts have failed so far after the left-wing Syriza party, which came second in the vote, insisted that the draconian terms of Greece’s financial rescue agreements be scrapped or rewritten short term personal loans.

More talks will be held Tuesday, but hopes for a deal are low and expectations are increasing that the country will have to hold new elections. With polls showing increasing support for Syriza, analysts expect a showdown between whatever new government comes to power in Greece and the country’s bailout rescuers.

“The exit of Greece from the single currency has become probable. Not so long ago it was impossible,” analysts at DBS Bank said.

Looking ahead, investors will keep an eye on U.S. economic indicators for inflation, retail sales and surveys on manufacturing due later in the day. The recovery in the world’s largest economy has been tentative, with employment gains uneven, though corporate earnings have been mostly upbeat. Investors will be searching for signs of strength that might offset the turmoil in Europe and weakening growth in Asia, particularly China.

Asian markets fell earlier on Tuesday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 down 0.8 percent to 8,900.74, its lowest close since Feb. 3. South Korea’s Kospi lost 0.8 percent to 1,898.96. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.7 percent to 4,266.30.

Mainland Chinese shares extended their losses, with the Shanghai Composite Index hitting another three-month low, losing 0.2 percent to 2,374.90. But Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which some analysts said was oversold after more than a week of losses, rebounded 0.8 percent to 19,894.31.

Benchmark oil for June delivery was up 2 cents to $94.80 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.35 to settle at $94.78 in New York on Friday.

In currencies, the dollar rose to 79.92 yen from 79.86 yen late Monday in New York.

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They lacked a business plan, site review or financial feasibility study.

What Ron and Ruth Carter did have, however, was a wealth of kitsch accumulated at flea market and garage sales, along with an ideal locale to peddle the stuff.

Gifts and Decorations requires no introduction to anyone who has driven along North Kingshighway near Delmar Boulevard.

It’s tough to miss the queen-sized Notorious B.I.G. bedspread or the array of themed rugs and wall motifs adorning the storefront where Kingshighway meets Vernon Avenue. 

A sidewalk inventory sheltered only by an awning did not occur by happenstance.

“We pretty much have to put everything outside,” Ron Carter explains. “Nobody will know if we’re here if we sit inside eating jelly donuts. There’s not a lot of windows here.”

Statistics tracking the longevity of small businesses can be confusing.

A 2010 United Capital Funding study that drew on several sources, including data from the U.S. Census, Commerce Department and Small Business Administration is probably closest to the mark. It calculates that the small business survival rate is 49 percent for five years, 34 percent for ten years and only 26 percent for ten years or more.

How, then, to explain the staying power of Gifts and Decorations? This year, the Carters will commemorate a quarter century of selling DVDs, CDs, scarves, ponytail bungees, socks, dirty magazines, mass-produced art and  rugs, including one with the indelible image of the late reggae icon Bob Marley toking a joint.

Carter, 61, gives a simple answer: “It’s not just caring about what you sell. It’s how you treat people, too.”

Gifts and Decorations traces its roots to a spot a few blocks east and south, along Lindell Boulevard. There, Carter — then an elementary school arts teacher — sold handcrafted ashtrays, statuary and figurines molded from plaster of Paris in the early 1980s.

The figurine and ashtray market proved to be fairly successful.

But as the collection of knick-knacks picked up at the flea markets, and other sales approached critical mass, the Carters decided to broaden their inventory.

When the couple – married 35 years – set up shop on Kingshighway in November 1987, the stretch included a beauty shop, a barber shop, a repair shop, a Chop Suey joint and a bar. 

The Carters gradually took over the neighboring real estate as each of the businesses dropped away. Eventually, Gifts and Decorations occupied the entire building.

But only for the purpose of storage. For rare is the customer that makes it past the entrance of 1158 North Kingshighway.

Peddler such impulse buys on the sidewalk is “a lot easier than trying to get them through the door,” Carter says.

Outdoor merchandising captures the peripheral vision of the driving public payday loan no faxing. That’s key to attracting passerby shoppers like Helen King, who pulled curbside after spotting a framed Last Supper triptych, in which artist Wolfgang Otto cast people of color as Christ and his disciples.

“Ten dollars,” King said, loading the print into her car. “You can’t beat it.”

Rotating or rearranging the inventory on a daily basis is another marketing trick. Close observers of Carter’s downmarket bazaar will notice the Betty Boop bedspread, for example, rarely hangs in the same spot.

“That’s another secret,” said Carter. “Don’t put (stuff) in the same place everyday.”

Of course, there’s a downside to conducting business in the great out-of-doors.

Winter isn’t the problem.

“Snow is not so bad, it comes down slow and you can get the stuff inside,” said Carter.

It’s the other seasons, with the storms that tend to descend on St. Louis out of nowhere, that pose the biggest threat.

It takes the Carters about an hour each morning to wheel out the smaller inventory and clamp the rugs and bedspreads to the clothesline running the length of the building.

Carter has never put it to a stopwatch. But he assures it takes a lot less time to get the merchandise inside when high winds and thunderbolts erupt without warning.

Carter says business has dropped off since a city health inspector two years ago ordered Gifts and Decorations to halt the sale of frozen ice – which the Carters call “snow balls.”

“Everybody liked our snowballs, because we gave them a lot of juice,” he said. “And when people stopped for a snowball, there was no telling what else they’d buy.”

Carter is keenly aware that sidewalk transactions, even after 25 years, doesn’t fit the traditional business model.

But he points out that Gifts and Decorations is as vulnerable to the market and economic forces as the grocer across the street or the auto parts supplier on the next block.

Besides taking a hit in the recession, Gifts and Decorations is engaged in constant give and take with wholesalers over the cost of the Chinese goods that dominate the inventory. And the Carters grind their teeth over the bane of businesses of every shape and size – taxes.

Ron Carter may complain that “I don’t know if I’ll be in business that much longer if they keep raising my taxes.”

Still, the couple allows that a healthy supply of merchandise is stockpiled beyond those doors that his customers never enter.

And nearly 25 years after they first arrived at the corner of North Kingshighway and Vernon, they have no plans to clear the sidewalk anytime soon.

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JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon was overwhelmingly optimistic Monday — but was quick to say things would be even better were it not for government policies.

His reasons for optimism: the world’s strongest military, best businesses, most entrepreneurial workforce and deepest capital markets. "We have the royal straight flush," Dimon told Fortune.

So what’s the problem? Dimon cited three examples of where the government went wrong: The debt ceiling crisis, the failure to adopt Simpson-Bowles and what he calls the "constant attack on business."

When asked why, at a time of record profits, Corporate America isn’t hiring more, Dimon said American businesses had added 4 million jobs in the past two years no fax needed payday loans. "I don’t think government policy had anything to do with it," Dimon said. "It should have been 8 million.

More video on Jamie Dimon and the economy:

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Stock markets recovered around the world following an early stumble caused by election results in France and Greece that appeared to jeopardize Europe’s plans for fighting its debt crisis.

Greek voters over the weekend punished mainstream politicians who had backed cost-cutting plans demanded by the country’s international lenders, leaving the country without clear leadership. In France President Nicolas Sarkozy was thrown out in favor of Socialist Francois Hollande, who pledged “to finish with austerity.”

Investors on Monday worried that the shifting political landscape in Europe could undermine the region’s long battle to keep its shared currency intact and restore the faith of global investors. European markets slumped early on, but closed higher after worries about the political changes dissipated and investors focused on Hollande’s pledges to encourage economic growth.

Investors were also relieved after Spain announced a plan to present measures this week to support the country’s ailing banks. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said he would not rule out lending or injecting public money into the country’s financial system.

Stocks rose sharply in Spain, ending up 2.7 percent. France’s main index gained 1.7 percent. The euro also recovered ground it lost against the dollar.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average fell as much as 68 points in early trading, but recouped its losses and even gained 10 points by the afternoon. The Dow finished the day down 29.74 points, or 0.2 percent, at 13,008.53.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 also started the day lower but ended up 0.48 points at 1,369.58. The Nasdaq composite index rose 1.4 points to 2,957.76.

The election results in Europe showed that voters were rejecting the extreme belt-tightening required by international bailouts and favored by Germany’s leadership.

Investors are waiting hear the newly-elected leaders articulate their visions for how to deal with the euro zone’s debt crisis, which is why there is a muted reaction from stock markets, according Kim Caughey-Forrest, equity research analyst at investment firm Fox Pitt Capital Group.

“There is no reason to cry until you get hurt,” said Caughey-Forrest.

The verdict from European voters will likely force leaders there to go back to the table and come up with more acceptable solutions to the debt crisis that has plagued many nations. The deep cuts in government spending have already worsened the situation in many countries, leading them into deeper economic distress and increasing already high unemployment.

Many believe the austerity programs are necessary to keep bond investors from panicking about the possibility that more European nations will default or require bailouts Faxless payday loans.

However, a growing number of politicians, like France’s Hollande, say the cuts have been too much, too fast. They say the region’s economy can’t return to growth unless governments stop tightening the fiscal noose and start spending again to create demand. Some economists also now believe that the cuts have to be accompanied by some government economic stimulus to promote growth.

“We are going to hear a more balanced prescription coming out of the European leadership,” said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at insurer Prudential Financial. “The elections were a strong message for pro-austerity leaders from the people.”

Initially, traders also bought up ultra-safe Treasurys overnight when stock markets in Europe were falling. That pushed the yield on the 10-year note as low as 1.83 percent early Monday morning, a level it hadn’t reached since early February. However, the yield rebounded to 1.88 percent in late trading, the same level it was at late Friday.

Earlier in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei index plunged 2.8 percent to its lowest finish in three months. In addition to Europe’s elections, it was also the first time for investors in Asia to react to a weak jobs report Friday in the U.S. Hong Kong’s benchmark Hang Seng index slid 2.6 percent.

Among U.S. stocks that made big moves:

_ Disney rose 2 percent after its movie “The Avengers” pulled in $80.5 million in its domestic debut Friday, the second-best haul ever on opening day. The movie was made by Disney’s Marvel Studios unit and is based on Marvel Comics heroes.

_ Cognizant Technology Solutions plunged 19 percent after the information technology services provider lowered its forecast for the full year on low demand, echoing the bleak outlook from other rivals due to uncertainty in the global economy.

_ Meat products maker Tyson Foods rose over 3 percent after reporting an increase in its second-quarter profit on higher beef and chicken prices.

_ Frontier Communications fell 7 percent after the regional telecommunications provider said it was losing residential and business customers. The company had bought rural landlines from Verizon Communications two years ago, which led to several quarters of growth last year.

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U.K. services, manufacturing and construction probably waned this month as Bank of England policy makers prepare to discuss whether they need to extend stimulus after the economy slipped back into recession.

A gauge of factory activity based on a survey of purchasing managers will fall to 51.5 from 52.1 in March, according to the median estimate of 27 forecasts in a Bloomberg News poll. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. An index of services, the largest part of the economy, will decline to 54.1 from 55.3, while a construction measure will also fall, separate surveys of economists show.

U.K. gross domestic product fell in the first quarter, pushing the economy into its first double-dip recession since the 1970s. While Bank of England officials have said that may hurt confidence, they must balance that risk with the threat from faster-than-targeted inflation at their May 9-10 meeting.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc. is buying another generic drugmaker, Switzerland’s Actavis Group, for about $5.6 billion in a move that will make Watson in the world’s third-biggest generic drugmaker.

Watson, which has seen its profits surge since it started selling an authorized generic version of cholesterol blockbuster Lipitor in December, is now No. 4 globally. It had expected around $5.4 billion in revenue this year. It plans to pay for Actavis with term loan borrowings and the sale of new debt.

Privately held Actavis operates in more than 40 countries and sells more than 1,000 products. The companies said its revenue totaled $2.5 billion in 2011. Watson said the purchase should close during the fourth quarter of 2012, pending approval from regulators. If Actavis meets performance goals in 2012, its shareholders could get up to 5.5 million shares of Watson.

Watson CEO Paul Bisaro said in a statement that the deal will boost its position in Russia and Central and Eastern Europe, and complement its products in the U.S. After the deal is complete, more than 40 percent of Watson’s generic drug revenue will come from outside the U.S., and Watson said it believes it will be able to reduce its annual costs by $300 million the three years after the deal closes.

Watson reported $4.58 billion in revenue in 2011, up 29 percent from the previous year, on sales of generic versions of drugs like Lipitor, the pain drug Kadian and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment Concerta. It also expanded its business by buying generics maker Specifar Pharmaceuticals of Greece in May guaranteed unsecured personal loan. That deal was valued at $563.1 million.

Watson also makes brand-name products like the enlarged-prostate drug Rapaflo. In December, Watson announced it is partnering with Amgen Inc., the world’s biggest biotechnology company, to create “biosimilar” versions of several biologic medicines for cancer. Those drugs would be sold under a joint Amgen/Watson brand.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. of Israel is the world’s largest generic drugmaker, with $13 billion in generic drug revenue in 2011. Sandoz, a unit of Swiss drugmaker Novartis AG, was No. 2 with $10.7 billion. Mylan Inc. of Pittsburgh had around $8 billion in sales for the year.

Actavis is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland. It has around 10,000 employees to Watson’s 6,700. Watson is based in Parsippany, N.J.

Watson shares climbed $4.01, or 5.8 percent, to $73.70 in aftermarket trading. The stock is up 19.1 percent since March 21, when it was first reported that Watson was in talks to buy Actavis.

After the deal was announced, Moody’s Investors Service backed its credit ratings on Watson but lowered its outlook to stable from positive. Fitch Ratings said it will downgrade Watson if the deal proceeds as planned because the deal would increase Watson’s debt to $6.8 billion from $1.1 billion.

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Spanish, Italian and Portuguese banks are loading up on bonds issued by their own governments, a move that shifts more of the risk of sovereign default to European taxpayers from private creditors.

Holdings of Spanish government debt by lenders based in the country jumped 26 percent in two months, to 220 billion euros ($289 billion) at the end of January, data from Spain

Threatened last year with demolition, the historic “flying saucer” building in midtown St. Louis soon will be an emporium for $6 lattes and gourmet burritos.

Starbucks and Chipotle are near completion of leases for the former Del Taco outlet near St. Louis University. Developers plan to renovate and expand the unusually shaped building in time for the start of SLU’s fall semester.

Hany Abounader, a partner in the development, said the building, at 212 South Grand Boulevard, will serve as a southern gateway to midtown.

“It’s going to be a landmark for the SLU campus and the Grand Center area,” he said.

Preservation of the building, erected in the 1960s as a Phillips 66 gas station, represents a turnabout for the owner, Rick Yackey, who last year sought city permission to replace the structure with a conventional retail building. His effort prompted protests from preservationists and sidewalk demonstrations.

Yackey at first insisted that the saucer’s preservation made no economic sense. But after the only occupant — a Del Taco — closed last summer, Yackey said he would keep the building and hunt for new tenants. The outcry against demolition affected his decision, he said this month.

“Frankly, we got a lot of pushback from a lot of people,” he said.

Those favoring preservation said the saucer is a prized example of mid-century modern architecture. It is within a district of low-rise and high-rise residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.

Starbucks and Chipotle had yet to sign lease agreements but Yackey and Abounader said they are confident the two national chains will occupy the building when it opens in August or September.

A Chipotle spokesman said Thursday the company does not comment on new outlets until leases are signed. A Starbucks representative was unavailable for comment. 

The developers will preserve the round concrete roof and erect a mostly glass addition on the east side of the building to house Chipotle easy pay day loans. Starbucks will use much of the original building, which will get new glass walls to reproduce the structure’s original see-through appearance. The businesses will seat about 100 people combined, plus 50 more on a patio beneath the saucer’s broad overhang. Starbucks will have a drive-thru window.

Randy Vines, a Cherokee Street businessman who helped organize the save-the-saucer effort last summer, cheered the decision to preserve the structure.

“Although most of us would have preferred local businesses, the preservation and rehabilitation of the iconic saucer has always been our primary goal,” he said. “Thanks to Rick Yackey for choosing vision over generica.”

Yackey said the $2.5 million development will produce a 4,400-square-foot building half the size of the commercial structure he had initially proposed for the site. State historic preservation tax credits will help fund the saucer project but the trick was finding suitable tenants, he said.

“We always liked the building,” Yackey said. “The problem was making it work economically.”

Fifty of the more than 17,000 Starbucks coffee shops worldwide are in the St. Louis area. The midtown Chipotle will add to the chain’s eight quick-Mexican food outlets in the region. Chipotle has more than 1,200 restaurants.

Abounader, a commercial real estate broker at Balke Brown, said he believes the reborn saucer will be a catalyst for further retail development in the immediate area. He and Yackey are marketing two nearby buildings with a total of about 9,000 square feet of space. Both are within The Flats at 374, a residential complex for 300 SLU students.

“We’ve got tons of interest from local and national retailers to take that space,” Abounader said. “We’re looking for the type of retail opportunity that can serve this community and the students.”

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President Barack Obama says his call for raising taxes on millionaires is not a redistribution of wealth, but a way to free up money for crucial investments in the U.S. economy.

Pitching the so-called Buffett rule for the second straight day, Obama dismissed the notion that the plan is a gimmick. He says it is necessary in order to tackle the country’s massive deficits.

The rule is named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who says he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. Obama was flanked during his remarks at the White House Wednesday by several business executives and their assistants who he says agree with the principles in the Buffett rule.

The Senate will vote on the plan next week, though it has little chance of passing Congress.

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