Thursday mornings typically mean heavy traffic on IPO syndicate desks, with investment bankers scrambling to price deals before the week ends and putting the finishing touches on new issues scheduled for the following week.

That game plan went out the window on July 7, before the sun even came up on Wall Street.

The Thursday morning bombing of London was the week’s major news story. Its aftereffects immediately hit the New York financial markets.

Stocks plunged on the opening as the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average sank by over 100 points in early-morning trading. But the stock market had already been caught up in a downdraft the day before. It had lost another 100 points on July 6 due to oil prices soaring to a record price of over $61 per barrel.

By the time the stock market closed on July 7, the Dow had recovered to post a modest gain—closing at 10,302.29, up 31.61.

Echoes of 9/11

The only other time a major financial capital was the target of terrorist attacks was in New York City on September 11, 2001. Its aftereffects sent Wall Street into shock.  

The stock market did not open that day. It remained closed the rest of the week. When it opened on September 17, 2001, the Dow plunged over 684 points to close at 8,920.70, a loss of 7.1 percent from its previous close of 9,605.51 on September 10, 2001.

The 9/11 aftershocks continued as the stock market kept heading south. The Dow average hit its low for 2001 on September 21, 2001, when it closed at 8,235.81. From that low point, the Dow recovered to close on December 31, 2001, at 10,021.50.

In the meantime, IPOs were nowhere in sight.

The new-issues market was still in its usual Labor Day holiday hibernation on September 11, 2001. The IPO production line traditionally closes down from mid-August to mid-September, and 2001 was no exception. No IPOs were scheduled to debut during the week of September 10, 2001. However, the IPO calendar listed four deals for the week of September 17, 2001. Needless to say, none made it to market.

The First Post-9/11 IPO

The first company to go public after 9/11 was Given Imaging on October 4, 2001.

Given Imaging, an Israel-based maker of diagnostic products for monitoring disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, priced its IPO of 5 million shares at $12 each. Since then, the stock sold at a high of $45.13 per share on October 12, 2004, but closed on July 7 at $22.68 per share. Nevertheless, that’s still up 89 percent from its initial offering price.

This brings us to the present and the question: Where does the IPO market go from here?

For this week, it appears to be clear sailing ahead.

Inside This Week’s IPO Calendar

There are four new faces at the IPO window, which are expected to raise about $670 million. Two of those are foreign deals. From China, there’s Focus Media Limited, and from Greece, there’s Quintana Maritime. A Dutch auction is planned for CryoCor. And real estate, one of the sexiest markets of this decade, will have a toe in the IPO waters with an offering by JER Investors, a real estate investment trust (REIT).

There is a carryover from last week hoping against hope that the market will be friendly enough to allow it to get priced. This is the Orchids Paper Products IPO.

Here’s the rundown on the new names on the IPO calendar:

—CryoCor plans to price 3 million shares at $11 to $13 each to raise $36 million. The offering will be made through the OpenIPO, or Dutch auction bidding system. The IPO is to start trading on July 14.

Based in San Diego, California, CryoCor develops a minimally invasive, disposable catheter system for the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. The company’s product, the CryoCor Cardiac Cryoablation System, is designed to treat cardiac arrhythmias through the use of cryoenergy, or extreme cold, to ablate, or destroy, targeted cardiac cells. Formed in 2000, CryoCor has about 59 employees.

The Underwriters: W.R. Hambrecht is the lead manager. Acting as co-managers are First Albany Capital and Roth Capital Partners.

Venture Capitalists: MPM Capital, William Blair Capital Partners VII, OrbiMed Associates, and Healthcare Equity QP Partners.

52-Week Percentage Change:

Dow Jones U.S. Medical Instrument Index: down 0.47 percent

Nasdaq Composite Index: up 7.25 percent

Passing Observations:

—Sales in the thousands: CryoCor reported sales of $493,000 for the year ending December 31, 2004, up from $342,000 for the same period a year ago.

—Losses in the millions: CryoCor reported a net loss of $20.3 million for the year ending December 31, 2004, greater than a net loss of $13.4 million for the same period a year ago.

—Large accumulated deficit: As of March 31, CryoCor had an accumulated deficit of $55.2 million.

—Focus Media Holding plans to price 10.1 million American Depositary Shares (ADS) at $14 to $16 each to raise $151.5 million. Each ADS represents 10 ordinary shares. The company will offer 7 million ADS and selling shareholders will offer 3.1 million ADS. The IPO is to start trading on July 13.

Based in Shanghai, China, Focus Media Holding operates one of the largest—if not the largest—advertising networks in China using audiovisual television displays instead of billboards to broadcast advertising. As of March 31, Focus Media Holding’s network was located in 70 percent of commercial buildings surveyed in 13 cities across China, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, according to the prospectus. The company claimed to have more than 680 advertisers purchasing advertising time slots on its network. Formed in May 2003, Focus Media Holding has about 1,111 employees.

The Underwriters: Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse First Boston are the joint-lead managers. Acting as co-managers are CIBC World Markets and Piper Jaffray.

Venture Capitalists: GS Focus Holding, CDH FM, UCI Entities, 3i Group, and Draper Fisher Jurvetson ePlanet.

52-Week Percentage Change:

Dow Jones U.S. Media Agencies Index: up 8.14 percent

Nasdaq Composite Index: up 7.25 percent

Passing Observations:

—Rapid sales growth: Focus Media Holding reported total revenues of $29.2 million for the year ending December 31, 2004, up from $3.8 million for the same period a year ago.

—Soaring profits: Focus Media Holding reported net income of $2.6 million for the three months ending March 31, up from net income of $372,000 for the year ending December 31, 2004.

—Insiders are selling over 3 million ADS on the offering and are expected to receive about $45 million before underwriting fees.

—JER Investors Trust plans to price 12.39 million shares at $16.50 to $18.50 each to raise $216.8 million. The company will offer 12 million shares and selling shareholders will offer 390,000 million shares. The IPO is to start trading on July 14.

Based in McLean, Virginia, JER Investors Trust is a specialty finance company organized to originate and acquire real estate debt securities and loans. The company’s strategy is to hold a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate debt investments, including CMBS, mezzanine loans, and B-Notes. Formed in 2004, JER Investors Trust has about 150 employees.

The Underwriters: Friedman Billings Ramsey and Banc of America Securities are joint-lead managers. Acting as co-managers are Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse First Boston, and Deutsche Bank Securities.

Venture Capitalists: American Liberty Fund, Cysive, Drake Associates, First Union Real Estate Equity and Mortgage Investments, Global Capital, Wake Forest University Endowment, and Western Reserve Hedged Equity.

52-Week Percentage Change:

Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index: up 11.6 percent

Nasdaq Composite Index: up 7.25 percent

—Quintana Maritime plans to price 16.7 million shares at $14 to $16 each to raise $250.5 million. The IPO is to start trading on July 15.

Based in Glyfada, Greece, Quintana Maritime is a recently formed provider of drybulk marine transportation services. The company expects to own and operate a total fleet of eight Panamax drybulk carriers by the end of the third quarter of 2005. Quintana Maritime took delivery of its first three vessels in April 2005 and two additional vessels in May 2005. The drybulk carriers are expected to transport a variety of cargoes such as coal, iron ore, and grain. Formed in January 2005, Quintana Maritime has about 19 employees.

The Underwriters: Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are joint-lead managers. Acting as co-managers are Jefferies & Co., ABN AMRO Rothschild,Cantor Fitzgerald, Credit Suisse First Boston, Dahlman Rose, and Fortis Securities.

Venture Capitalists: FR X Offshore and AMCI Acquisition II.

52-Week Percentage Change:

Dow Jones U.S. Marine Transportation Index: up 41.2 percent

Nasdaq Composite Index: up 7.25 percent

Even Keel

In conclusion, July’s IPO market looks to be in good shape.

If everything gets priced that’s presently on the calendar, it will bring July’s totals to 15 IPOs. That would make July an “average” month for the 2005 IPO year. During 2005’s first half, Wall Street’s investment bankers priced 91 IPOs, which averages out to 15.2 deals per month.

So even though July got off to a rocky start for the stock market, IPO bankers and their clients could wrap up the month on an even keel.