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Facebook’s hot start turns tepid

Facebook stock’s first day merely holds its ground amid high expectations

By Hiawatha Bray

 |  Globe Staff  

  May 19, 2012

Eight years after Facebook Inc. was born in a Harvard University dorm, the social network’s stock defied the massive hype surrounding its debut as a public company Friday by hardly rising at all.Launched at an opening price of $38, Facebook shares climbed to $45 in early going on the Nasdaq Stock Market, only to end the day at $38.23, up just six-tenths of a percent.

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