If you’re going to buy stocks, screw FaceBook, buy Smith and Wesson instead

Trigger Happy

Boy-genius-turned-Bernie-Madoff Mark Zuckerberg just sold 30.2 million shares of his own company for a cool profit of $1.13 BILLION dollars.

(MarketWatch) – Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has sold 30.2 million shares and director Peter Thiel has sold 16.8 million shares of the social-networking company, according to securities filings published late Tuesday. The sales confirm plans detailed in a prospectus before Friday’s $16 billion IPO. Zuckerberg sold 30.2 million shares at a price of $37.58 for gross proceeds of $1.13 billion; Thiel sold 16.8 million shares for gross proceeds of $633 million. Facebook insiders had told prospective shareholders of their plans in an S-1 filing last week. Facebook shares were down 0.8% after hours at $30.74.

So who’s the fool?  You are, Mr. smarty-pants investor!  You already know that Marky-Mark and the Facebook Boys don’t give a rip about you, your family or your privacy.  He’s the owner.  You’re the product.  He got richer.  You lose.

In a much-related article though, it would appear that the little old company fromm Springfield Mass. is alive and doing quite well.

Gun sales are booming as buyers arm themselves, partly because they fear President Obama will win re-election this fall and pass tough new gun-control laws, analysts say.

“I would characterize this as a gun-buying frenzy,” Jim Barrett of CL King & Associates said yesterday after Springfield-based Smith & Wesson’s reported blowout quarterly sales.

Smith & Wesson said preliminary net sales from continuing operations rose 28 percent to $129 million during the latest quarter. The gun maker also reported a $439 million backlog of orders — a $252 million increase from a year earlier.

And they’re not the only gun manufacturer to see a rise in sales.

Remington’s parent company recently reported a 34 percent quarterly sales gain, while Connecticut-based Sturm, Ruger & Co. saw transactions soar nearly 50 percent. Sturm, Ruger even stopped taking orders for two months to catch up on back orders.

Guns stocks might not be a cool and hip as a new IPO that actually has nothing to sell but you, but at least they’re turning a profit.

I’d love to type more but I’ve got to get to my E-Trade account……

Tags: facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, peter thiel, Ruger, Smith and Wesson