Facebook shares jumped 13% to $43 as the stock opened in the frenzied first minutes of trading Friday, but just as quckly the price slid, tas investors stormed Wall Street to trade shares of the world’s leading social networking company.
The stock rose $5 from its initial price of $38 a share, indicating just how strong demand is for the company, especially from individual investors who largely couldn’t buy shares at the initial public offering price. There were so many last minute orders that trading, initially set for 11 a.m. ET., was delayed by nearly 30 minutes. The early gains were trimmed to about 5% in mid-day trading.
At its current stock price, Facebook is being valued at $121 billion, which makes it worth more than Amazon.com, McDonald’s, Cisco Systems and Visa. The company raised $16 billion in the IPO. It could raise more, up to a total of $18.4 billion, if the company’s investment bankers utilize an overallotment option reserved to satisfy additional demand.
The stock trades by the symbol FB on the Nasdaq exchange. Trading was expected to begin trading at 11 ET Friday. But trading was delayed as market makers attempted to match buying and selling interest to arrive at a valid opening price.
The Brandt Standard 
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