Category Archives: The IPO Buzz

There’s no question that the Fed wrote the script for last week’s surging stock prices. But here’s what many missed. Just around the corner from Wall Street is an alley called IPO Lane, where bankers were busy stuffing the new-issues calendar. If all goes as planned, this month could very well be the busiest December for the IPO production line in this decade.

The spotlight last week belonged to Macy’s 81^st annual Thanksgiving Parade. An estimated 3.5 million people turned out to cheer as the storied balloons and floats made their way along the parade’s 3.3-mile route from 77^th Street and Central Park West, down Broadway and on to Herald Square.

This week’s focus in New York City will be on the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. That closes the securities markets on Thursday and for Friday -– who cares? (Friday’s abbreviated trading session is scheduled to end at 1 p.m.) Nevertheless, there is an IPO calendar. Whatever gets priced will be done on Monday evening for Tuesday morning’s trading and then it’s off for the rest of the week.

It was coyote ugly in the canyons of Wall Street last week. The stock market took a pounding and IPOs took a few hits, too, but some telegraphed their aftermarket performances.

Upon hearing that there are 22 IPOs on this week’s new-issues calendar, a veteran syndicate manager commented, “Just like old times.” Well, maybe so, but facts show we have a long way to go before the “good old days” return.

From the streets of Hong Kong to America’s financial TV Land, last week’s buzz was about the Alibaba.com $1.5 billion IPO. Like many hot issues, millions were shut out from getting a piece of China’s huge, hot IPO, including Americans. The later was not a case of: “Yankee! Go home.” It was the Securities Act of 1933 that got in the way.

Friday’s single-day drop of nearly 367 points in the Dow Jones Industrial Average was significant. In the short run, it might slow down the IPO Express, but won’t derail it.

Wall Street’s bankers have reached across the U.S. borders to include a couple of foreign companies among the 11 IPOs on this week’s calendar. Should things go as planned, they will raise nearly $2.1 billion and, in the process, could pocket nearly $150 million in underwriting fees for themselves. Not a bad week, but what about the customers?

There were whispers coming from Wall Street’s syndicate desks late this summer that the IPO market was gearing up for a busy fall. Six weeks later, it’s happening. Last week’s new-issue traffic was full of confirmations, and this week’s calendar stands ready to deliver.

Chinese IPOs have grabbed a lot of headlines lately, such as the China Construction Bank IPO hitting the new-issues cash register for $7.7 billion in Shanghai last week. Halfway around the world at the corner of Broad and Wall Streets, Chinese IPOs have been minting money for American investors. Here’s what the media has missed.