The Wall Street Journal reports that Jive, a producer of social networking tools used by businesses, was initially expected to price this week at between $8 and $10 per share, giving the company a valuation between $458 million and $573 million.

With market demand high, however, Jive followed Groupon’s example and unexpectedly raised its offering price to $12 per share, giving the company a market valuation of more than $687 million.

Even at this higher price, however, the company saw so much interest that its underwriters – Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley – ended up selling 2.7 million more shares than initially planned, bringing the total to 13.4 million.

The stock performed well on its first day, closing up 25.42 percent at $15.05 per share and holding largely steady throughout the day. This reflects a slight improvement over recent offerings like Groupon, which often saw a drop after initial trading, but over the course of the year essentially all newly public technology companies have experienced substantial drops.

Initial public offerings are always an uncertain investment to an extent, with companies often going public without a long-proven track record of success, sometimes looking for the funds necessary to keep the company going. The 2011 IPO market has not proven any easier, with many companies canceling or delaying their IPOs over the summer as the global economy suffered a downturn with both the U.S. and Europe struggling through debt crises.

Ultimately many analysts and even companies have found themselves looking from one high-profile IPO to the next, hoping that it would perform well and provide some encouraging signs for investors. Most recently, daily deals site Groupon completed a $700 million IPO, but it quickly followed the same pattern of most other companies this year and slumped below its early trading prices.

But Forbes reports that online gaming company Zynga, the creator of popular mobile and Facebook games like FarmVille and Words with Friends, stands a strong chance of surviving where many others have not. Valuing itself at $7 billion, Zynga has set far more modest goals than some recent IPOs and actually manages to back it up with a well-established business model that has already managed to make substantial profit – $30 million on $829 million of revenue over the past nine months.

Indeed, Bloomberg reports that Zynga announced on Thursday, December 8, that the company already has enough orders to cover the sizable portion of shares it intends to sell – 14 percent of common stocks, well more than many recent IPOs – at a price range of $8.50 to $10 per share.

Bloomberg notes that Zynga has given itself a substantially larger price-to-sales ratio than some of its primary competitors, but this still compares favorably with other IPOs seen so far this year.

Meanwhile, The Chicago Tribune reports that Zynga founder and chief executive officer Mark Pincus claimed at a luncheon in Boston that his company could reasonably double the number of players who actually pay for the company’s games. At present, paying customers account for only 3 percent of the 6.7 million players of Zynga games.

Investors are likely to remain wary after a bed that saw collapses from essentially every major IPO, but Zynga nonetheless offers as much promise of a spark as any of those earlier entrants held.

The Associated Press reports that Verizon, one of Google’s key allies in the mobile sphere, has decided not to include the company’s new Google Wallet function in its latest smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

Verizon was integral in the promotion of Android-based phones as an alternative to iPhones, but the company has been slow to warm up to the Wallet app, which is designed to allow users to attach virtual “credit cards” to the phone and pay by simply tapping the phone on a type of reader.

Verizon noted potential security concerns with the new system, but the company’s reticence to adopt the technology likely stems at least in part with its place in ISIS, a group of telecommunications companies that are hoping to create their own mobile payments system.

The only phone currently allowing the use of Google Wallet is run through Sprint, which is not a part of ISIS. The Los Angeles Times notes that the move to block Google Wallet is particularly surprising given that the Galaxy Nexus was designed specifically to have such capabilities.

Wide selloffs have left the stocks of many companies that are in a strong financial positions with low price-to-earnings ratios, according to the media outlet. Companies headquartered in the United States are currently sitting on $2 trillion in cash, which could set the stage for moves aimed at rewarding shareholders such as raising dividends, acquiring other companies and engaging in share buybacks.

Various market experts shared their input and predictions at the event. Shawn Kravetz, who works as the chief investment officer of Esplanade Capital, said that investors might have to lose their thirst for companies with fast profits and instead put their money in organizations that will generate slow, steady growth, the media outlet reports.

“Things aren’t generally getting worse and in many cases we’re getting a little bit better,” he told the media outlet. “If you stick to your game plan and let the markets come to you,” challenges in the past nine months will prove a “gift in disguise.”

Investors who purchased stock right after the financial crisis had the opportunity for very strong returns simply by holding their equities for a few years.

Investors have struggled substantially to determine whether they made a good choice putting their money into the young daily deals company, particularly after a quick decline similar to many of the other technology companies going public this year.

However, the company has not been all bad news, with chief executive officer Andrew Mason announcing the company had sold 650,000 holiday deals over the Black Friday weekend. that represents a 500 percent increase and potentially double the sales of similar deals by rival LivingSocial.

Meanwhile, MarketWatch reports the company has initiated a substantial shift in its approach to revenue growth, with a greater emphasis on marketing than on subscriber growth, which had been a major cost for the company that drew criticism in the lead up to its IPO.

The company’s stock has recovered somewhat from its recent lows, briefly rising above its $20-per-share IPO price on Friday, December 2. It quickly fell back below, but remained above its recent average.

Venture investing as a whole took a major hit in the third quarter, dropping to an eight-year low of $1.7 billion, down from $3.5 billion just one year ago, according to a recent report from consultancy Ernst & Young.

Of that $1.7 billion, however, a surprising $421 million went to green technologies, ranging from solar energy to improved battery technologies. That represents a staggering 1,932 percent increase from the year before.

Many expected investment in solar in particular to decline in the wake of the Solyndra collapse, but Judith Albert, executive director of Environmental Entrepreneurs, explained to the Times that venture capitalists are less risk averse and more willing to accept some failed investments.

Forbes‘ Michael Kanellos suggests that  solar, and the clean energy sector, ultimately will succeed in drawing investment simply because the product represents an unavoidable demand as compared to the somewhat more fickle markets of social media.

Shopycat, designed by Walmart’s new @WalmartLabs, integrates with Facebook and analyzes the interests and activities of users’ friends to provide suggestions for them based on inventories from Walmart and certain other stores, including Barnes & Noble and RedEnvelope.

The app offers specific gift ideas for individuals, but also offers an explanation of where the suggestions come from, allowing for some simple checks before committing to a gift.

Venky Harinarayan, senior vice president of Walmart global ecommerce and cofounder of @WalmartLabs, noted to Forbes that the question of how to determine an appropriate gift from social media interactions can prove difficult, since all product mentions do not necessarily make for gift suggestions, but that the technology is improving.

PCWorld notes that this follows the recent trend in this field set when eBay purchased recommendation engine Hunch.

The Japan-based car manufacturer recently displayed the Juke Nismo Concept at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show, CNET reports. At the time, Nissan announced that a positive response could provide the vehicle’s production with a green light.

According to the media outlet, “the production of the vehicle depended on on the reaction at the Tokyo Motor Show,” Chiaki Sumi, chief project specialist for the Juke, said in a statement. “If it’s quite positive, we’ll consider introducing it into the market.”

The car has been altered by moving the chassis lower and the 1.6-liter turbo gasoline engine has been improved to offer users improved performance, according to Automotive Business Review. Side elements have been added to the tailgate spoiler and 18-inch alloy wheels have been added to the vehicle.

Andy Palmer, Nissan Motor executive vice president, has stated that the success of the Nissan Juke has made it evident that consumers are looking for something aside from currently available offerings, the media outlet reports.

There are currently less than 20 funds that provide exposure to the energy sector, according to The Street. Although these securities can provide some diversification by investing in energy stocks, the sector is not without its challenges. Energy stocks suffer from volatility stemming from surging prices from 2008 to 2011.

These ETFs are based on indices from providers such as Dow Jones, Standard & Poor's, MSCI and Barclays, the media outlet reports. Some of them seek to obtain better performance through active management.

Motley Fool and The Street have both provided recommendations in order to simplify investing for individuals who want to trade these securities. The Street has provided 10 recommended ETFs which are ranked based on factors such as liquidity and expense ratios, and its number 1 recommendation was PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy ETF (PBW). This ETF is based on the WilderHill Energy Index and generally focuses on renewable sources of energy. Motley Fool recommended the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund (AMEX:XLE) as its top pick.  

The Kindle Fire, a full tablet line somewhat distinct from the previous e-reader Kindles, was only released earlier this month, but the device has received numerous positive reviews only boosted by its price. While Amazon’s e-readers range in price from $79 to $149, the retailer’s tablet comes in at a surprisingly low $199.

Comparatively, the iPad 2 starts at nearly $500 and can reach more than $800 with various other additions.

Amazon did not release details on its sales of the tablet, but noted it had sold roughly four times as many Kindles as compared to figures from last year, even with last year’s high sales figures.

Yet even though the Kindle Fire outsold the iPad 2 at major retailer Target, InformationWeek notes a survey from PriceGrabber indicating more people would prefer an iPad to other brands, suggesting the Fire has a ways to go before taking hold of the market.