Why I wouldn't touch Facebook with a barge pole

Facebook finally floated and promptly dropped 18% from its $38 IPO price. So hyped was the new issue that, priced at the top of its valuation range, there was insufficient demand to support the stock once trading commenced.

But the short-term gyrations of the share price are only of interest to traders. Longer-term holders of Facebook stock will receive a positive return on their investment if and when the company succeeds in monetising its 900m global user base.