ECONOMY & MARKETS

Shares of LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD), the most highly anticipated initial public offering of the year, have almost doubled in value on their first day of trading.

LinkedIn’s IPO debuted on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “LNKD.” Priced at $45 a share, the whole company is valued at close to $4.3 billion.

Today's new Gold Demand Trends from the World Gold Council show interesting data about gold demand in China. China is now 10 years into opening up its gold market - half as long as India. But since nabbing the No.2 spot in terms of private demand in 2005, it's only grown hungrier for gold bullion, despite becoming the world's No.1 mining-producer nation, too.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Glu Mobile, PetSmart, Exelixis, Lam Research, and Dollar Tree. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Smart Technologies, Melco Crown Entertainment, Metabolix, KLA-Tencor, Yongye International, Applied Materials, and Intel.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Wednesday are: Eastman Kodak, PetSmart, Eaton, First Majestic Silver, Salesforce.com, Big Lots, Advance Auto Parts, Merck & Co, Applied Materials and Intel Corp.

Barclays Capital has increased its profit forecast for PC maker Dell, given prospects for higher gross margins, partially offset by lower revenues.

Nokia’s share of the mobile phone market has dropped by 25 per cent in the first quarter of 2011, a report revealed by Gartner said on Thursday.

Google is on its way to fix the vulnerability issue with Android phones that could have exposed users' personal data.

Intel’s managerial unit declared on Thursday that keyboardless netbooks and tablets maybe a new cult thing, but it is not killing off PCs (Personal Computers), a report said.

The World Bank has approved an amount of $23.5 million biodiversity grant and loan for India on Thursday.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Wednesday are: Niska Gas Storage Partners, K-V Pharmaceutical, First Majestic Silver Corp, Limited Brands and Eastman Kodak Co. The top after-market NYSE losers are: Advance Auto Parts, SouFun Holdings, Heckmann, Pier 1 Imports and Omnicare.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Westell Technologies, PetSmart, Ross Stores, Exelixis, and Sify Technologies. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Smart Technologies, Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Alkermes, Orbotech, and Brightpoint.

Japan’s economy shrank at an annualized rate of 3.7 percent in the first three months of the year.

The housing market is the worst sector in the US economy. After seemingly recovering from the crash in 2009, it started to double-dip in mid-2010.

Stocks rallied broadly today supported by a surge in commodity prices.

Consumer inflation in the US has remained relatively stable after the 2008 financial crisis. In April 2011, however, it jumped to 3.2 percent year-over-year. From here on out, it's only going to accelerate.

Mark Carney, a former Goldman Sachs employee and the current Governor of Bank of Canada, is a huge commodities bull.

A new World Bank report projects that by 2025, foreigners' net ownership of US assets will be 69 percent of the US GDP.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Arotech, SodaStream International, Dell, Gulf Resources, Golar LNG, GT Solar International, and Research In Motion. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Coldwater Creek, Staples, Celldex Therapeutics, Orchid Cellmark, and ARM Holdings.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade on Wednesday are: Safeguard Scientifics, Jaguar Mining, Analog Devices, Abercrombie & Fitch, NYSE Euronext, Titanium Metals, BJ's Wholesale Club, Target, Nvidia, Hewlett-Packard and Apollo Group.

Finnish mobile maker Nokia will introduce a new ‘Search’ feature on its mobile phones which will allow users to locate a particular place at just a click, a report in the Nokia official blog said.

Harassed Sony head Howard Stringer asserted the hacking problem which knocked out the company’s online services and revealed user information was just a jinx in the corporation’s advancement.

Sony has come up with frequently asked questions (FAQ) guidelines to address the queued costumers after the discontinuation of service for its PlayStation Network (PSN) due to repeated hacking attacks.

Barclays Capital said Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) launched new MacBook Pro products on February 24, which boosted the March NPD data. Similarly, the brokerage expects a re-acceleration in May data driven by new iMacs launched on May 3.

The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: FSI International, EnerNOC, Dell, AVEO Pharmaceuticals, and Gulf Resources. The top after-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: Coldwater Creek, Celldex Therapeutics, Boston Private Financial Holdings, Novavax, and Myriad Genetics.

The top after-market NYSE gainers on Tuesday are: Jaguar Mining, Radian Group, Analog Devices, Safeguard Scientifics and DCT Industrial Trust. The top after-market NYSE losers are: Venoco, Walter Energy, Continental Resources, Cenovus Energy and Talbots.

In my mind it was just one of those raids that we experience from time to time. There was no particular reason for it. And then we end up with 5 margin rate increases. It just reeks of someone manipulating the price of silver down.

Alarmingly frequent bubbles and busts in copper, wheat, crude oil, silver and pretty much all other natural resources might now be the collateral damage of QE

The two hottest personalities in the hedge fund industry just disagreed about the hottest investment in the world.