led up to this ipo, this public offering for facebook, many people may step out and say, wait a minute, look where the stock is ending today. the stock ending only up about a fraction of a percent just above that initial ipo offer price of $38. look, many would say it was a messy debut plagued by technical difficulties and not as much demand as everybody thought. we then saw other social media stocks tumble as well in sympathy for facebook. which everybody thought would really pop at the open. and it did. we did see facebook shares pop as much as 18% but clearly they are ending pretty flat on the day. wolf? >> alison, the whole point is that that $38 number came in at the high end yesterday. that was a number -- earlier estimates could have come in at $25, $35, $38 was considered pretty big. >> that was based on investor interest. remember, facebook went on this road show engaging investor interest and there was a lot of investor interest and facebook thought that it could get that price. and it did. it did get that price. look where it ended today. but clearly, what the expectations is for the hype though for the hype when you see how these other social networking sites did in their ipo, linked dml, google, they have jumped tremendously since their ipo day. that's why that expectation to see facebook do much better than just ending a fraction of a percent higher, that's why that expectation is there. >> what about final numbers on the nasdaq and dow jones? how did they do? >> looks like it was pretty much a flat day overall, flat to lower nasdaq and the dow ending -- actually, the dow down 73 points. nasdaq down about 34 points. a tough day. it is a tough market and there's a lot going on for investors. you have to remember the debt crisis in europe continues. that's a huge focus for many investors and for many investors they see the facebook offering today as more of a side show. wolf? >> alison kosik, it wasn't that long ago the dow jones was above 13,000. now it is closer to 2,000. we'll assess what's going on with that front as well. take a closer look at this extraordinary day on wall street. joining us now, our chief bips correspondent ali velshi and cnn's erin burnett. facebook's chart looks more like a sort of yo-yo than a skyrocket today. what's your analysis? >> first, the markets all closed with their worst week of the year so didn't help. there was no market sentiment in facebook's favor. but really the problem was as this thing was supposed to get started about 10:30 this morning, trading didn't get under way. this is remarkable volume that's been traded today. more than 500 million stocks. to give you a perspective, wolf, on an average day microsoft will trade 50 million, apple will trade 25 million. to trade 500 million is a big deal but it didn't get started. i think some momentum fell out of it immediately. but here's the problem. at $38, that's what morgan stanley and the investment send cat told facebook they'll be able to get based on demand. an investment bank and a send cat never wants it do go below the price into it actually comes out at. this $38.23 you are seeing and the fact it hard by got below $38 means morgan stanley and its friends have been very busy holding that stock up. if this wasn't an ipo day, this stock would probably be lowered. bottom line -- for long term investors, you still have to make the same decision -- is facebook stock going to be worth more in a year or two than it is today? a lot of people still bet yes but this is not the way you would really want your ipo to go. >> erin, what's your analysis? >> i think ali is spot-on. when you see a it holding $38, just near that close to prevent it from breaking the ipo price? it could be the only ipo to close below its debut price. maybe they were a little bit too greedy some people are saying. this had he priced it at $25 originally, that was on the table, then it rose. there would be a broader perception of success. it is fair to say this is a huge ipo. 532 million shares traded today. there's never been an ipo in this country's history that's never traded that many shares. fact they were even to get all that done is a pressure of success. people at facebook are happy about it. one other thing that's interesting, usually you can bet that a stock is going to go down and you'd have a lot of pressure on a stock on a normal day when there weren't a lot of buyers, people would be betting it would go down. no one was shorting the stock today. even without that it was really struggling. one other thing ali said. we've lost $1 trillion in the past few weeks in this market because of fears greece. they are putting the behemoth of an ipo into an already tough market. it does seem they did overprice it. >> how much did media hype play in all of this? >> i've been analyzing this a lot. i've been getting a lot of critiques about it. i think america knows more about ipos and public companies as a result of the coverage of facebook. i think a lot of people got warned that just because you use facebook doesn't mean you should invest in it. a lot of people learn that you don't get into an ipo just because you can actually buy the stock. you actually have to consider whether it goes up from where you bought it. i have to say i think we're smarter about ipos and public companies and today's example, the fact that the stock isn't closing at $80, means that people are actually pretty smart, they think this is fairly priced. it is not terrible. it is not horrible -- this is a $100 billion company. but i think we were measured in our buying and i think the media probably played some role in this. is an exciting company. we covered it well. i never think it is a bad thing to give people as much information as you can about a stock. even here at cnn, we've had different opinions on this. some people think it's the shift in paradigms for the internet and it is going tonight next big thing and others say stay away from ipos, you're not smart enough to get into them. >> you're at all nervous, don't buy this stock. could end up $50, $500 in a few years. on the other hand, there have been plenty of stocks, especially technology stocks, that have crumbled. >> everyone says it is going to be sort of like groupon, which is 40% below where it went public or like google which went public at $85 a share and we're somewhere $620 or something right now. could go the way of google. by the way, if it does go the way of google when google went public in 2004, in six or seven years facebook would need to be valued at nearly a trillion dollars. sort of where apple is today. of course it is possible but it is hard to tell where it is going to go. >> erin burnett has her show at 7:00 p.m. eastern. ali, terrific job from you as well. thanks very much. the company that started in a harvard dorm room is now based in menlow park, california. but it wasn't too hard for the man who linked millions of friends over the internet to ring the nasdaq opening bell long distance. the founder and ceo mark zuckerberg is now a multi-billionaire and many employees today became instant millionaires. our silicon valley correspondent dan simon joins us now live from facebook headquarters. dan, how did it go out there today? >> reporter: i spoke to a facebook executive a short time ago. he said the enthusiasm, the energy was just off the charts inside that facebook square when mark zuckerberg rang the bell. right now it is a little more subdude. a lot of people have gone home and gone to sleep after pulling an all-nighter. they had a hack-a-thon. this is where people get together and try to come up with new ideas for facebook. they met in the courtyard about 6:00 this morning. people here in silicon valley are also a bit divided about this stock. if you look at google during this stage when they went public, they were growing at 90% a year. facebook growing at 35% to 40% a year. there's been so much anticipation for the stock here in silicon valley. however, people have been divided in terms of if people should buy it. in terms of what we're seeing here right now, we're seeing a full parking lot of cars so there are still a number of people here but of course, you have that hack-a-thon last night so a lot of people going home to rest. >> they come up with any brilliant ideas in that hack-a-thon, as far as we know, dan? >> reporter: we don't know yet. it will be interesting to see. in years passed they actually have come up with some interesting ideas. that like button you see on facebook came as a result of the hack-a-thon. what they do is they pull these all-nighters and they actually meet in committees in subsequent days and figure out what some good ideas are. if some of these ideas take hole, they can actually make that their full-time job. the only requirement for the hack-a-thon is you have to work on something you've never worked on before. it is an interesting way to sort of spur innovation at the company. >> maybe a new company could be formed out of that hack-a-thon. who knows. dan, thanks. mitt romney finds a new campaign symbol. >> this is the absolute bridge to nowhere if there ever was one. that's your stimulus dollars at work. a bridge that goes into where. >> romney launches his first general election ad. the daughter of raul castro gets a visa to come to the united states. why some people aren't that you'll happy about that. authorities in georgia on an urgent hunt right now for a man who was seen pointing a rifle at a school bus and then allegedly fire a pistol at a witness. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone likes a bit of order in their life. virtual wallet helps you get it. keep track of spending, move money with a slide, and use the calendar. all to see your money how you want. ♪ oh! 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[ female announcer ] purina cat chow complete. always there for you. lot of news happening on the road to the white house today. the republican presidential candidate mitt romney found another bridge to nowhere today revealing a new campaign symbol even as he launched his first ad of this, the general election campaign. our senior congressional correspondent dana bash is joining us now with more. the first general election ad. >> and a very interesting visit that he made. an obama campaign official today told me -- admitted to me that it was pretty difficult for the president to win the white house again without winning the state of new hampshire so it is lucky for new hampshire that he owns a home there and was also governor of the neighboring state. today he went for a visit and taunted the president. as far as campaign imagery goes, this was impossible for mitt romney to pass up. a stop in front of a project that received $150,000 from taxpayers, part of the obama stimulus plan. but it is a 19th century bridge that doesn't have vehicle traffic and doesn't even cross the river. >> this is the absolute bridge to nowhere if there ever was one. that's your stimulus dollars at work. a bridge that goes nowhere. >> reporter: the romney campaign also launched their first television ad of the general election. >> what would a romney presidency be like? day one. president romney immediately approves the keystone pipeline creating thousands of jobs that obama blocked. >> reporter: the ad is noteworthy for the tone, positive against a backdrop of uplifting music, a series of promises, what he had's do, and a little help getting voters used to the way the words president romney sound. >> president romney introduces tax cuts and reforms that reward job creators, not punish them. >> reporter: it is a far cry from the much maligned first romney ad of the gop primary season which featured the president out of context saying this. >> if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> reporter: it was actually something then-candidate obama said in 2008 about his gop opponent. >> senator mccain's campaign actually said, and i quote, if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> another interesting note about the new ads from the romney campaign, it isn't just what they say but where they're airing. four states that president obama won last time around. the states are ohio and iowa and north carolina and virginia. one other bit of news -- that is a romney source toll me mitt and ann romney each gave $75,000, which effectively by law is the max that they can give, to the romney victory fund and they did that this week. >> giving to their own campaign. that makes sense. gloria borger is here as well. what's the purpose of this first romney ad from your perspective? >> it is a positive introduction. it's a handshake with the american public saying glad to meet you, and, by the way, this is my agenda on day one. it is also a way of saying why don't you ask president obama what his agenda would be in his first term? you're going to be hearing a lot more of that question from the romney campaign. so a general positive introduction. >> the other thing in talking to romney officials today is that it is positive but it is also specifically contrasting things that president obama is not doing, the keystone pipeline, repealing health care law, of course. it's generally what he would do but also specifics in what they call contrast with the current president. >> he doesn't necessarily have to go as negative as he did in seeking the republican nomination. >> i'm sure that will come, wolf. but not right now. because of course they have the super pacs who are going to help them out. >> that's what i mean -- he's got others who can do it. >> for example, here's a little bit of an ad running from crossroads gps, a republican super pac. >> today i'm pledging to cut the deficit we inherited by half by the end of my first term in office. >> broken. because he hasn't even come close. we need solutions, not just promises. tell president obama to cut the deficit and support the new majority agenda. >> wolf, this is the super pac that's karl rove is running and i will tell you, listen to these number. super pacs in this election cycle swujust so far have spent more than $100 million. that's more than twice the amount of independent expenditures in 2008. >> it's only may. >> it's only just beginning. wait, just wait. on the super pac front, the republicans have a lot more money than the democrats. there's no doubt about that. >> we'll see if the democrats catch up. >> the democrats started that super pac game much later than the republicans did. it is interesting this first romney ad also came out with a spanish language version. >> it is interesting. what's also interesting is that the romney campaign won't tell us what their ad buy is, meaning how much they actually spent an where it is running. that suggests that they -- it is very small. otherwise if it was a substantial size we would know about it. and also suggests they are doing it probably a good reason for them, to public relations to reach out to the latino community which we all know are a community and voting bloc that the romney campaign is desperately trying to get back in the republican column after they went "d" last time. >> you want to talk about money and spending, crossroads gps ad buy is normally $25 million. the only folks who can spend that kind of money and are spending the kind of money is the obama campaign. not the romney campaign. obama campaign and gross roads gps. >> i notice this first general election ad that the romney campaign put out today was in mark contrast to that jeremiah wright proposal that was quickly removed yesterday. >> absolutely. yesterday it was the whole idea that that could have been a potential ad and that mitt romney had to repudiate it right away. initially potentially problematic but ultimately actually was helpful for them politically because it allowed him to distance himself from that and it also happened again in may and not september. >> guys, thanks very much. weefl's continue on the road to the white house. a top election official in arizona says it is possible president obama won't be listed on the state's november ballot. how could that be? i'll ask the republican party chairman who's standing by in "the situation room." the urgent hunt for a man who pointed a rifle at a school bus. 6 time out. sweet. 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[ male announcer ] marriott hotels & resorts knows it's better for xerox to automate their global invoice process so they can focus on serving their customers. with xerox, you're ready for real business. there are some early indications about how rough this campaign may get. mitt romney may have invited one by rejecting the controversy over jeremiah wright, president obama's former pastor. let's discuss what's going on in this race for the white house. the republican national committee chairman joins us. when i saw that "new york times" story i thought but, suggesting it is time to revive the reverend jeremiah wright and throw him in to this super pac. what went through your mind when you read that story in the "new york times"? >> i mean, not a whole lot to tell you the truth, wolf. it is not something we're planning on doing here at the rnc. obviously we don't have any control over these super pacs but i agree with governor romney's assessment on the whole situation there and i don't know how much of it was truly an emotion or wasn't but the fact of the matter is that's not a place we want to go. we want to talk about this president's record which has been atrocious and the president doesn't want to talk about his record and that's because it is a lousy record. so our focus is going to be hold this president accountable to the words that came out of his mouth, the promises that he made and if we do that and show the american people where we're at in this country, we're feeling pretty good right now and i think we'll feel even better in november. >> will you urge your fellow republicans out there to support these super pacs that can raise unlimited sums of money to buy ads to stay away from reviving those massty allegati nasty all obviously the whole birther movement? >> listen. you don't hear those things coming out of our mouth here. obviously if that's a tale to others, that's what it is. i want to talk about the economy, i want to talk about jobs and i want to talk about this president's failures in fulfilling promises that