Market Minute: Facebook IPO Scammers Arrested; Warren Buffett's Portfolio

Updated



Arrests are made in a scam involving Facebook's stock, and Warren Buffett tweaks his stock holdings.

Another day, another record. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 60 points yesterday, ringing up its 20th record close this year. The S&P 500 gained 8, and the Nasdaq rose 9.

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Lots of investors feel like they were suckered by Facebook's (FB) much ballyhooed IPO last year, but none like a New Zealand man who bought Facebook stock that didn't exist. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that federal officials in New Jersey have charged three men with scamming the foreign investor into paying $3 million for shares he never received, and another $3.5 million in a different scheme. The three men could face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud, and a fine of $250,000.

Warren Buffet's company, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B), is out with the quarterly changes to its investment portfolio. It increased its holdings in IBM (IBM), Wells Fargo (WFC) and Walmart (WMT), but sold its entire stakes in General Dynamics (GD) and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM).

Walmart's quarterly earnings and sales came in slightly below expectations. After the close, J.C. Penney (JCP) is expected to post another loss.

Shares of Cisco System (CSCO) are set to pop after the technology bellwether reported better-than-expected sales and earnings. That's seen as a good sign for corporate spending on technology in general.

More manufacturing problems for Boeing (BA). The aerospace giant says engines made by General Electric (GE) for some 777 models are defective and need to be replaced. This comes just as Boeing is near completion of a battery fix for the 787 "Dreamliner"; that mishap prompted the grounding of the entire fleet.

Southwest Airlines (LUV) is returning some profits to shareholders. It's quadrupling its quarterly dividend to 4¢ a share from a penny, and it plans to buy back more stock.

And Tesla Motors (TSLA), which has been red-hot of late, plans to raise 830-million in a secondary stock offering. It will use the proceeds to repay an Energy Department loan ahead of schedule.

-Produced by Drew Trachtenberg

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