LinkedIn Weathers A Potential Storm, At Least For One Day (LNKD, QPSA, RENN, SINA, UNTD)

Tickerspy’s Social Networking Index

SOCIAL NETWORKING INVESTING IDEAS

• Popular long ideas: GOOG, SINA, RENN
• Popular short ideas: GOOG, LNKD, SINA
• Top dividend plays: UNTD
• Pro favorites: GOOG, LNKD, SINA

Sign up and track the Social Networking Index performance

SOCIAL NETWORKING COVERAGE

These companies run online businesses with significant exposure to social networking.

• Momentum Already Slowing For Google+? (GOOG, LNKD, RENN, QPSA, SINA, UNTD)
• Social Media Stocks Headed For Bubble Heartache? (LNKD, GOOG, NFLX, SINA, RENN, QPSA, UNTD)
• Smooth Sailing For Google+ To Start (GOOG, LNKD, UNTD, SINA, RENN)

SOCIAL NETWORKING CHART

SOCIAL NETWORKING METRICS

Avg. Market Cap:	$54.3B
Avg. P/E Ratio:	43.5
Avg. Div Yield:	1.1%

Shares of LinkedIn (LNKD), the social networking site for professionals, are modestly higher and that’s pretty good news when considering today is the first day the newly public stock is free of short-selling restrictions. Eager short-sellers probably haven’t been able to really sink their teeth into LinkedIn because of a small float and the fact that the stock is probably hard to borrow, perhaps leading to exorbitant fees to short the shares.

LinkedIn’s decent performance is helping the Social Networking Stocks Index to a gain of 0.6%, but more headwinds could be on the way for the stock that is viewed by many as a barometer for the future success of other forthcoming social networking IPOs.

Lawrence Haverty of Gamco Investors said in an interview with Bloomberg News that LinkedIn could trade all the way down to $30 after insiders and early investors are allowed to sell their shares. Insiders and money managers have 85.7 million Class B LinkedIn shares that cannot be sold until six months from the IPO, according Bloomberg.

Haverty called LinkedIn a “magic show” and said the only question for investors is how soon should they sell.

Quepasa (QPSA) is the Index laggard today with a 2% drop. Renren (RENN), the Facebook of China, is surging 2% while SINA (SINA) is up 1%. United Online (UNTD) is flat.

Investors can track the Social Networking Stocks Index for performance trends and a suite of other metrics at tickerspy.com.

Tags: LNKD, QPSA, RENN, SINA, UNTD