Macro chatter: Facebook — more valuable than McDonald’s Citigroup and Amazon

Need to know:
US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke won’t be lonely much longer. The US Senate has finally moved to fill the last two open spots on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors.

The Senate Thursday approved Obama administration nominees Jeremy Stein and Jerome Powell, clearing the way for the Fed to have a full board of governors for the first time since before the financial crisis.

Stein is a Harvard economics professor who has held positions in both the first Bush administration and the Obama administration. Powell’s background is in private equity. He also was a Treasury undersecretary in the first Bush administration.

Want to know:
Facebook is about to become the largest tech IPO in history.

Facebook could raise more than $18 billion from its initial public offering, a figure that gives it a valuation of about $104 billion. That makes Facebook more valuable than McDonald’s, Citigroup and Amazon.

Facebook shares are expected to begin trading on the NASDAQ this morning under the symbol FB. They’re expected to get a LOT of likes.

To find out more about the people getting really, really rich from the deal click here.

Dull but important:
Europe’s banking troubles keep getting worse.

Banco Santander, the largest in the euro zone, is among 16 Spanish banks Moody’s downgraded Thursday. Spain is in a recession and its banks have been pummeled by a property market that came crashing down a few years ago.

Moody’s earlier this week downgraded 26 Italian banks, and Greece has seen its banking customers withdrawing their funds as the country’s political future remains unclear.

Greece’s problems are expected to be front and center at this weekend’s G8 meeting in Camp David.

Just because: 
Eduardo Saverin, the Brazilian born Facebook billionaire who decided to renounce his US citizenship has gotten in the crosshairs of US lawmakers.

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer accused Saverin of defriending the US. He and another Democratic senator have introduced legislation that would ban expats like Saverin from the US.

Saverin meanwhile told Bloomberg he didn’t renounce his US citizenship because he wanted to avoid taxes on his Facebook windfall but instead because he wanted it to be easier for him to do business in Singapore, where he now lives. Of course, his being banned from the US could make for some unhappy Saverin family gatherings. Saverin’s parents and siblings live in Miami.

Strange but true:
Teaching kindergarten may not pay well, but selling kindergarten lesson plans does.

One Georgia kindergarten teacher has earned $700,000 by selling her lesson plans online, Mashable reported. Deanna Jump has been selling her lesson plans on Teachers Pay Teachers, an ecommerce startup that connects educators with one another.

The site has 700,000 registered users, and its teachers have earned a combined $7 million by selling lesson plans on the site so far. Lesson plans usually sell for $5 to $10 each, but many are available for free.