This week, Facebook goes public, but is the social media site really worth $100 billion?  Also job growth was unexpectedly strong for January. And as usual, providing personal finance advice, real estate advice and consumer advice on the Ilyce Glink Show February 5, 2012 on WSB Radio.

Hello Facebook! This week, the social media giant announced plans for its IPO. When the seven year-old Facebook goes public, is it really worth $100 billion? The site isn’t making much money right now but the potential is there when you consider that Facebook has 845 million users today. Those numbers will top one billion mid-year, and that means one out of every seven people will have a Facebook profile – a huge portion of the world market.

It was also an exciting week for job growth. The unemployment rate dipped to 8.3 percent upon news that U.S. employers added 243,000 jobs in January – almost double the forecast. Even better, the U-6, a broad measure of unemployment, is registering at 15.1 percent, down a full percentage point from just three months ago.

Investment had a solid week too. Stocks are at their highest levels since 2008.

  • The Dow was up 200 points, ending Friday afternoon at 12,862. The Dow grew by a total of 3.4 percent in January 2012, the biggest January in history.
  • The S&P was up 4.36 percent during the same month (58.81 points), also the largest start to the year in history.
  • The NASDAQ is presently at an 11-year high.
  • 10-year Treasury bonds are at a 1.49 percent return – absolutely amazing.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke cautions that our slowly growing economy is still susceptible to shocks, such as the ongoing crisis in the euro zone. The Chairman also remains worried about the deficit and national debt. But are we finally on the verge of a turnaround?

You can get more personal finance advice, real estate advice and consumer advice by listening to this radio show and by listening to my other radio shows.  Simply download them to your phone or audio player. You can also read our articles on real estate, credit, and consumer advice articles as well.

[audio:https://www.thinkglink.com/wp-content/uploads/igs-2-5-12.mp3|titles=igs-2-5-12]

Download podcast via iTunes