Instagram, Spain Debt and Warren Buffett: Shouts and Murmurs in the Market

Allison Kade

Posted on Apr 20, 2012

This has been a week of shouts and murmurs, with a number of developments still to come.

In the workforce: Research shows that diversity benefits a workforce and might even be one measure of a company’s financial health, so Goldman Sachs and MetLife plan to release data to the public on how diverse their workforces are. We’re curious to see how the numbers shake out.

Big figures in Silicon Valley: Facebook is still mulling its IPO, but announced this week that it will probably go public on May 17. Last week, we learned that Facebook bought the ever-popular photo app Instagram for a whopping $1 billion—this week we learn that the social networking site’s IPO would value it at more than $75 billion … and that may even be a conservative estimate. Only time will tell.

Pain in Spain: Forget Greece, all eyes are now on Spain, which is in a similarly debt-logged boat. Investors have been carefully watching yields on Spanish bonds, which is an estimate of how likely investors think Spain is to default on its loans. Yesterday, the country slightly exceeded its target, which is good news. But is that enough to shake the country from its economic woes? We’ll keep you posted.

This week also tossed a more human wait-and-see moment in our direction: Warren Buffett, the legendary investing guru, announced that he’s been diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer. He has insisted that it’s not serious and he’ll be fine, but we’re taking the opportunity to reflect on his long-lasting impact on the investing world … and the world in general.

Here’s what you need to know this week in The Market:

Warren Buffett’s Legacy, Future and What We Can Learn

Warren Buffett, age 81, has been diagnosed with cancer. This makes us wonder—what happens to a company when its charismatic CEO’s health is shaky (see also: Apple) and what Buffett secrets can we learn to be the best investors we can be?

How ‘Do-Nothing Syndrome’ Can Make You a Worse Investor

Information is generally a good thing, but in today’s digital age, too much data can also be harmful to your portfolio. Like deer in headlights, many people become overwhelmed when faced with too much info. Here’s how to overcome “do-nothing syndrome.”