I wrote earlier this month offering information on the pending Facebook float or IPO [Initial Public Offering].

Well, the 18th has come and gone, and thats about where the Facebook shares are going.

After listing at an initial $45 USD, they settled after the first day at $38.23 USD. This is about where most financial boffins had assumed it would lie. I dont think they have been thinking too far ahead at the moment, because a mammoth Tech company such as Facebook is way too hard to predict as far as share prices are concerned.

After a quiet weekend, I flipped down the notifications blind on my iPhone and scrolled the ticker from the stock exchange across to FB as it is listed on the ASX. What do I find? A steady but small increase in the number of shares traded, some volitility comments from the boffins and maybe a smile making closing price after the end of the second day trading? No way. I find comments slamming financial estimates of the company, traders denouncing each other for talking it up, and a big fat 10.9 percent drop in the closing price from Friday.

Shares now sit at $34.03 USD. Where is it going? I really couldn’t tell you, and as I have said all along, I’m not a financial advisor so go seek pro-help [if you can find it!]. Facebook doesn’t have the listing position as most other tech companies. That is, companies that list usually have some place to go, and a well disclosed IPO prospectus listing those plans, along with all the other regulatory advice as to risk, capitalisation etc. etc. Facebook is already a huge player. Sure, somewhere down the line they might go off in another trailblazing direction, but when?

People especially institutional investors are in the market to make money. They buy and sell when the market allows them. They buy in bulk and buy low and sell high. Not necessarily for big profits. With that sort of bulk buying you only need to make a little per share to make a lot overall. These investors will make the roller coaster appear very wild in the beginning. As more and more long-term investors come on board, things will hopefully smooth out for Facebook shares.

Hopefully, within the not too distant future, Facebook will let everyone know why they should have confidence in them to be a mainstay of the business world, and a worthwhile stock option.

What’s you’re thoughts on the Facebook IPO? Let me know This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Cheers for now