I was just wondering something. PANDA, MAX, both blew up in *very* short order. Has there been a successful new altcoin launched since the first of the year, or is this par for the course? Of course, both panda and max had egotistical "masterminds" selling snake oil backing them, but I don't know if that is normal or not, either. In the meantime, I'm sitting here at 187Kh, mining and holding doge since panda blew up, since it at least is getting some pop culture buzz. It will be May before I can think about replacing my 650 Ti boost, so maybe worrying about what to mine right now is moot.
Vertcoin is a solid long term investment right now. It's currently my favorite altcoin.
Short term you might want to look at MintCoin. Good potential there for it to blow up in March.