MarketWatch - May 18, 2012

If you're keeping on top of the stock markets this morning:

The Nikkei plummeted 265.28 points to 8,611.31.
The Dow also dropped 156 points to 12,442.49.
And the NASDAQ slipped 60.35 to 2,813.69

This is the day Facebook gets a whole lot of new friends. The social media giant will offer its stock to the public, beginning at $38 a share.

It will trade under the symbol FB on the NASDAQ Exchange. The offering values Fcebook at around $100 billion, making it one of the biggest IPOs ever. There's enormous demand for the stock, but also some caution on whether Facebook has a good enough profit strategy.

Hewlett-Packard is considering a round of deep layoffs. The computer company has struggled to cut costs and raise profits. Published reports say it could slash 8-percent of its workforce, or as many as 25,000 jobs.

Lawmakers would like to hear more about that huge trading blunder at JPMorgan Chase. The Senate Banking Committee plans to invite CEO Jamie Dimon to testify. The committee is discussing wall street reform and says it should hear directly from Dimon about the bank's $2 billion loss.