You almost have to have been living under a rock lately not to know that Facebook is about to become a publicly traded company and issue shares of stock.
Earlier in February, Facebook filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to start the process of offering shares of stock to investors in an initial public offering (IPO). But, it will be next to impossible for the average individual investor to get in on the IPO action in the beginning when the stock starts trading.
Investment banks that handle the transactions for Facebook take care of themselves, their best institutional clients, and other mutual funds before regular small investors like you and me are able to buy shares.
