Headlines around the Web capture Facebook IPO letdown

By Salvador Rodriguez

May 18, 2012 12 AM PT

Facebook stock’s 0.61% increase from Thursday’s IPO price of $38 was a bit of a letdown, and that disappointment was reflected in headlines around the Web after the stock market’s close.

The most eye-catching headline was the Drudge Report’s, which isn’t a big surprise. It read “FAKEBOOK: IPO GIVES NO RETURN.”

Another great headline came from the San Jose Mercury News, which chose to go with “Face-dud: Shares flat in IPO.”

When I headed over to the Huffington Post, I was expecting a great headline in the large type its home page is known for, but it decided to devote that space to a story about President Obama. The Facebook headline it did use was still quality, though: “FACEBOOK FLOP? Underwriters Forced To Prop Up Stock,” focusing on how Facebook managed to stay above its initial price.

On the more reserved side, the Los Angeles Times went with “Facebook IPO debut ends in fizzle,” which caught the let-down feeling of the day. The New York Times ran “Facebook Shares End the Day Near Their Opening Price,” and the Wall Street Journal used “Facebook Falls Back to IPO Price.” Bloomberg News went with “Facebook stalls in public debut after record $16B IPO” in all caps and bold.

Reuters treaded its own path, focusing on issues that hampered Facebook’s first day of trading, with the line “Historic Facebook IPO marred by trading glitches.”

The Washington Post, on the other hand, went with a bland headline that essentially said “today was Facebook’s IPO.” Its phrasing: “Facebook stock makes Nasdaq debut.”

And the New York Post seemed to miss the story, using “INVESTORS ‘LIKE’ FACEBOOK.” Cute, but a lot of people would disagree.

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