[brianfitz]

Markets will factor in all known information ahead of a fine such as this — the possibility that it’s coming and some guess at the size and impact. In doing so, this would depress the price of the stock leading up to any news.

Let’s assume that the estimate for the fine was exactly on the money — $5B. In this case, you’d still expect to see a jump in stock price due to the removal of uncertainty. Uncertainty can pull down prices just as much as bad news.

Throwing out any opinions of what Facebook did, the size of the fine, etc. this is the type of simplistic reporting that gives the news media a black eye. It also happens quite a lot with science reporting such as an article last week on tube that could isolate sound based on its shape. The author made many leaps that were ripped apart on HN.

Any particular instance won’t get noticed by the majority, but eventually an article will get published to an area of your expertise and it’s just glaring. When this happens enough times, you begin seeing the news in a much more nuanced and different light.