Google+ starts out far faster than Facebook, Twitter

Computerworld - Google+ is going great guns right out of the gate, with the site starting out far better than rivals Facebook, Twitter and Myspace did.

Google+, the social network Google launched just over a month ago, already has more than 25 million visitors, according to Comscore, an Internet traffic watcher.
Comscore said Google+ hit the 25 million visitor mark just shy of its one-month birthday.
Meanwhile, Comscore notes that it took Facebook about 35 months to get 25 million visitors. It took Twitter more than 30 months and it took Myspace more than 20 months to reach the 25 million-user mark, Comscore added.
"I'm mainly trying to put Google+'s exceptional growth in context by showing that Facebook is today the clear market leader even though it took longer than all its key competitors to reach 25 million," said Andrew Lipsman, a vice president at Comscore.
Lipsman added that at this point it's unclear how many of those 25 million Google+ users are regular users of the site or are simply people curious to take a look at the new site.
"It's hard to ignore the impressive growth numbers so far, but I think there are also many visitors who are still dipping their toes into the pool but not yet ready to dive in," he said.
He also noted that Google+ is still in a field trial phase and that users can only join the social network by invitation.
Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group, agreed that the Google+ numbers are impressive, but he added that they're not surprising.
"Come on, they've got Google behind it," said Olds. "The visitor count is probably a combination of looky loos and actual users who are getting their profiles in shape."
And he also noted that just because Google+ is out of the gate faster than Facebook and Twitter, there's still a long way to go to usurp them.
"Facebook was the first truly mass market social network and, along with Myspace, was the pioneer," said olds. "They were mostly unknown and had to build up their brand from the ground up. Google+ comes into an environment where social networking has a lot of mindshare and users, and it has the Google name attached to it and Google resources behind it. Its hit count should grow pretty quickly."
The Comscore report noted that the U.S. leads in Google+ visitors with more than 6,440,000 from home and work computers (not from mobile devices). India comes in second with more than 3,600,000 Google+ users. Both Canada and the U.K. have had more than 1 million visitors and Spain rounds out the top 10 with more than 460,000.

Author : Sharon Gaudin
Source : computerworld.com

CVVT, BSPM, CNIT: Stocks to Buy in Current Selloff

China Valves Technology (NASDAQ: CVVT), Biostar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: BSPM) and China Information Technology (NASDAQ: CNIT) are some stocks that can be and should be added to one’s equity portfolio. It may appear too much of a stretch to talk about positive returns when the markets are trading with deep cuts but as every correction brings some opportunities, there are good stocks going for a song in the current selloff also. Incidentally, all these stocks are from China.   

China Valves Technology (NASDAQ: CVVT) is down 6 per cent today when the indices are also down close to 2 per cent. The stock has come down heavily from the levels of $12 seen in November last year to $2.8 now. The correction seems to be overdone as the stock trades at a P/E multiple of just 2.4 and it is not a case of falling profitability. Forward P/E multiple works out to about 2.3 so the business is profitable next year too. In addition, the stock of this valve manufacturer currently trades at around 40 per cent discount to its book value per share of $5.77. As and when China’s growth engines fire again, CVVT will be a beneficiary. After all, it is not too long ago that the stock traded above $10.  

Biostar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: BSPM) has a 52 week high of $3.51 and low of $1.02. The stock currently trades at $1.08, down 8 per cent in line with broader markets. Current market price isn’t very far from the yearly low but that doesn’t make it a pick in these testing times. This biotech company has a book value of $2.33 per share which is a steep discount to its net asset price. Besides, BSPM trades at a P/E multiple of just 1.82. Like CVVT, BSPM has also come off significantly from its November highs and currently trades at attractive valuations. Looking at current prices, the downside is pretty much limited while the upside is very prominent.

Shenzhen based information technology player China Information Technology (NASDAQ: CNIT) is also trading down more than 6 per cent in morning trade. After the 8 per cent drop in the last week, the stock trades at a P/E multiple of 2.91. Being an information technology player, book value isn’t a great indicator of company’s value. However, the business is likely to do good next year too with increased earnings. The stock has a forward P/E multiple of 2.2 making it even more attractivE.

Author : Brian Presscott
Sources : smallcapnetwork.com