Facebook's Faceplant

It's easy to deceive
It's easy to tease
But hard to get release
--Billy Idol

The much acclaimed Facebook (FB) IPO occurred today. Approx 2.7 billion shares were priced in the primary market at $38 giving FB a mkt cap $100+ billion. Shares started trading on the NASDAQ before noon today at an opening price of about $42.

In the salad days of the tech bubble, shares would explode higher from there. Indeed, some pundits were predicting $100 FB stock by end of day.

It wasn't to be. Prices leaked all day, landing at the $38 IPO price with an hour to spare in the session. Fortunately, there was a buyer with insatiable appetite @ exactly $38.00--likely the syndicate of banks that brought this puppy public.

But these shares cannot be propped up forever. Soon, FB will have to trade on its own merits.

As an indicator of speculative risk appetite, FB's direction in the next few sessions may be an interesting tell for the tape.

no positions