Category Archives: The IPO Buzz

 

2014 went into the books as a good IPO year, not a record- breaking year as some have reported. Having said that, let’s go to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.

 

Over the decades, there has been one sure way to handicap an IPO’s opening-day performance. This year was a classic case.

 

 

While the elves are scrambling to pack Santa’s sleigh, bankers are getting into the holiday spirit – or spirits – far from the corner of Broad and Wall. On Friday, the final curtain dropped on the 2014 IPO calendar.

 

Two immunotherapy companies top the final weekly IPO calendar of 2014. The experts predict that both will light up the new-issue skies and close 2014 like the climax to a Fourth of July fireworks show set to Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture.”

 

 

Wall Street is bracing for an end-of-the-year flurry of IPOs before the window closes for 2014. This week’s calendar lists 12 IPOs, with 10 expected to trade on Thursday and Friday.

 

 

December brings us the holidays, anticipation of the New Year and a short IPO calendar. Unlike Santa’s workshop, the IPO production line shuts down around the middle of the month.

 

Over the past few years, the Thanksgiving holiday has brought the IPO calendar to nearly a standstill. This year, the turkey time warp looks pretty much the same. It’s a week with only four trading days. In reality, scores of Wall St pros will be out of the office from Wednesday onward, heading over the rivers and through the air to Grandma’s house or some more exotic destination.

 

 

With the stock market pushing into new record highs and Thanksgiving Day just around the corner, this week’s IPO calendar seems to be an afterthought. Nevertheless, it boasts nine deals looking to raise over $4.1 billion. Any way you slice it, that’s not too shabby.

 

The popular stock market indexes took another victory lap around the canyons of Wall Street last week and the IPO calendar went along for the ride. Eight deals were priced in November’s first week. Another 14 are on tap for this week.

 

The stock market came off a sharp four-week selloff to close out October with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 at record closing highs and the Nasdaq Composite Index at its high for the year. This set the stage for a busy opening week for the November IPO calendar. You need the winds of a bull market at your back when it comes to initial public offerings.