With a resounding boom, LinkedIn officially began trading on the New York Stock Exchange today (symbol: LKND) and with several other social networking companies primed to jump into the fray, investors are cautiously watching and waiting to see if the market for Internet companies is returning.

The early returns are promising.

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network on the Internet, began trading this morning at $83 per share – double the expected price of $40-45. In fact, the company’s initial public offering of 7.8 million shares of common stock was expected to be priced in the $32-35 range just three days ago.

At this price, the value of the company jumps to close to $8 billion.

“I feel terrific, this is exciting” said LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner. “We’re growing at the fastest rate in company history.”

LinkedIn, which raised more than $350 million in its offering making it one of the largest tech IPOs since Google back in 2004, is selling 4.8 million shares, with the company's stockholders adding another three-million. LinkedIn earned more than $15 million on revenue of $243 million last year.

Companies including Facebook, Twitter, Zynga, and Groupon, expected to be coming to market soon, will be keeping an eye on how eager investors are to gobble up LinkedIn stock.

“LinkedIn is really about a unique value proposition,” added Weiner. “Our long-term investors understand our story.”

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