The selling wave that swept through Wall Street last week did not drown the IPO market. Bankers priced everything on the calendar. And they plan to deliver an equally robust line-up this week.
It was a wild and bumpy ride down the IPO rapids last week. It proved there is no such thing as a “sure thing,” but more on that in a minute. This week’s new-issues calendar gets away from this year’s favorites — technology and specialty financial firms.
Everyone loves a sugar daddy, and Wall Street’s denizens are no exception to this rule. This week, MF Global (NYSE: MF proposed), the Bermuda-based broker of exchange-listed futures and options, plans to go public in a deal that has generated plenty of buzz: A
Tech IPOs broke out into party mode in the final week of June – with some of the sharpest opening-day gains seen this year. That trend of techs dancing topless on the beach was right in step with the way this IPO sector has performed throughout the first half of 2007.
The street sign at the corner of Broad and Wall says “one way,” but don’t believe it. Stocks went south last week while IPOs headed north, and one new issue soared to the top of this year’s IPO winner’s list.
Only a traditional holiday break was able to slow down today’s IPO Express. Bankers have just three deals on the Memorial Day holiday week’s new-issues calendar. But the IPO market’s recent fast pace looks likely to continue.