Weight Watchers shares jump on Oprah ad

Shares of weight loss company Weight Watchers jumped nearly 19% on Wednesday after a television ad featuring Oprah Winfrey was shown in the US. In an emotional one-minute commercial, the former talk show host spoke about her renowned weight loss struggles, flashing back to videos of her working out over the years. She asked viewers to join her, saying "let's do this together". Ms Winfrey bought a 10% stake in the company for $43.2m (£28m) in October. New York listed shares of the dieting company have more than tripled in value since she bought a stake in one of the world's leading weight loss brands. Advertisement Her stake is now worth more than $148m. The company, however, has been facing stiff competition from the popularity of fitness trackers and other free mobile apps which track your eating. Despite the jump in shares since Ms Winfrey's involvement, the company's stock market value is still down about 8% from a year ago. Earlier this year, Weight Watchers' founder, Jean Nidetch, who is credited with turning worrying about one's weight into a million-dollar industry, died at age 91.

Facebook class action lawsuits to go ahead

  Two US class action lawsuits against Facebook by shareholders alleging it hid growth concerns ahead of its 2012 public listing can now go ahead. A federal judge certified the legal proceedings, Reuters reports, saying investors who claim they lost money could pursue their claims as groups. Facebook told the BBC that it was disappointed with the decision and it has launched an appeal against it. The firm's initial public offering (IPO) in May 2012 raised $16bn (£10bn). The investors say that by purchasing the firm's shares at inflated prices they lost money. That year, its shares began trading on 18 May in New York at $38 per share, but the price fell to almost half the amount of $17.55 on 4 September. The price stayed below the IPO price for more than a year, but shares ultimately rebounded and closed up at $107.26 on the Nasdaq index on Tuesday. District judge Robert Sweet gave the lawsuits class action certification on 11 December, but the order was made public on Tuesday, Reuters reports.