Stocks, Investors | featured news

Investors who want Facebook Inc shares when the No. 1 online social network goes public later this week may have lost the opportunity. TD Ameritrade and Fidelity's brokerage arm both stopped accepting orders of Facebook shares as of Tuesday evening, according to representatives for each of the companies.

Stocks resumed their downward slide in early trading Wednesday as investors retreated from the initial optimism that greeted the Federal Reserve's decision the day before to keep interest rates low.

The Federal Reserve may take steps Tuesday to try to boost investor confidence, Bloomberg News reports.

The New York Stock Exchange, an icon of American capitalism, is expected to take a crucial step toward ceding control to a German company on Thursday, with little opposition expected from investors.

A strong holiday shopping season will help Google Inc beat Wall Street's quarterly targets again, but investors may need more convincing to buy into the Internet giant's longer-term future.

Europe's sovereign debt crisis will still hang over global markets this week, but on Wall Street, investors will not be afraid to bet on stocks.

Job growth in the U.S. and signs of global manufacturing expansion sent stocks sharply higher Wednesday. Bond prices and the dollar fell as investors moved money into riskier assets.