Renren shares surge 29% in 1st day of U.S.

That's how much Renren shares jumped Wednesday in their first day of U.S. trading after the company raised $743 million in an IPO. China's biggest social-networking website sold 53.1 million American depositary receipts at $14 each, the high end of the range and an eye-popping multiple of 72 times last year's sales. (By comparison, Facebook was recently valued in a Goldman Sachs deal at 25 times sales.) Renren shares soared as high as $24 before closing at $18.01. The ticker symbol is RENN.
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"There is a point where it gets excessive and it gets crazy, and we're starting to reach those numbers."

Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf, on how stricter capital rules abroad may damage the economy. He cited a push by Swiss regulators that would force lenders to hold capital equal to at least 19 percent of risk-weighted assets. Stumpf, speaking to his fourth annual meeting as Wells Fargo's chief, said liquidity ratios proposed by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision "may be even more problematic," requiring lenders to hold enough liquid assets to survive a 30-day seizing up of credit markets.
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Visa releases quarterly financial results today, and analysts predict it will report earnings of $1.21 per share, up 26 percent, on revenue of $2.23 billion, up 14 percent. Consumers are spending more as the economy pulls out of the recession, giving a boost to the San Francisco credit card giant. On Tuesday, rival MasterCard said its earnings rose 24 percent, topping estimates.
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