Sorry for the Neglect

Its finally time to start blogging again now that I'm back from the wedding/honeymoon and our post wedding errands are complete.  The extended break from my computer and phone was a refreshing opportunity to lift my head up from what had been two solid months of reading the Mashable, Techcrunch, and Term Sheet dailies which helped fill my inbox to the tune of 650 unread emails (I think I've finally sifted through and responded to the important ones, sorry for the delay).  Time to kick the job search into overdrive while commenting on the companies that have been making news lately.

The most significant tech news from two weeks ago was Groupon's IPO announcement which obviously drew coverage from the WSJ, Economist, and the like of the impending tech bubble.  This was a tremendous birthday present for someone that doubts the staying power of Groupon's business model and who has been preparing a a lengthier blog about the economics of Deal Sites.  This task should be much easier now that Groupon has filed with the SEC and opened the Pandora box that was their operating information.  

That brings me to this weeks news which will clearly be Pandora's first day of trading on the NYSE (full dislcousre: I'm listening to Pandora while posting).  The stock rose as high as $26 in early morning trading but spent the rest of the day returning to earth at a close of $17.42.  This is a gain of 8.88% for those who bought at the list price but far below the $20 price that many institutional investors paid when the markets opened.  Perhaps All Things D was a little premature in declaring that "Pandora has pulled a LinkedIn," which experienced opening day gains of 109% back in May.  If LinkedIn's performance to date (Down 39.2% from its high of $122.7) is any indication of Pandora's performance in the coming weeks then I'll be considering a short sale as it will likely be in the pink slips come July.

Disclosure - I currently do not have any positions in LNKD or P.