RJ and Makay

LinkedIn Corp.’s (LNKD) sharp rise on its first day of trading today shows that U.S. investors may be hungry for similar stories coming out of the social media industry.

Shares of the professional-networking site opened at $83 dollars on the New York Stock Exchange, an 84% increase from its initial public offering price of $45.  By mid-day it was trading at $112 a share, up 150%, valuing the company at $10 billion.  The stock reached a high of $122.70 before declining in afternoon trading, closing at $94.25.  For the day, shares were up $49.25, or 109.4%.

LinkedIn is the top networking site of its kind.  It is an essential, leading social media recruiting tool in the financial sector.  Internal and external recruiters, along with human resource departments, extensively use it to match job candidates to available jobs.

The company, located in Mountain View, California, is planning an initial public offering that could value the firm at more than $3 billion.  The firm plans to sell stock at $32 to $35 per share.  As the first social networking company to go public, LinkedIn is capturing the attention of investors seeking to cash in on a hot area of the technology sector.