With the eyes and ears of the world locked on the Dow Industrial's attempt to close above the 10,000 mark and the IPO market now focused on the moonshots of newly minted Internet issues, one thing people have overlooked has been the quiet build-up of proposed IPO filings with the Securities Exchange Commission.
The week of March 15 witnessed 23 deals getting filed -- eight on Friday alone, all Internet deals.
That brought March's total to 52 filings, and we're only a bit more than halfway through the month. Forty-five new issues were registered in February and 17 in January. December produced 23 deals, and November's total was just nine.
What's going on here?
Most of the new filings are Internet and Internet-related, which is about the only new-issue game in town. One can't help but get the feeling things are getting overheated.
Even so, as the Wall Street axiom goes, "Don't fight the tape." And we won't.
Scorecard year-to-date |
Number IPOs priced (excluding units) | 56 |
Number up | 38 |
Number down | 15 |
Number unch. | 3 |
Aftermarket performance |
From issue price | 80.7% |
From opening price | 8.1% |
PRICINGSNo pricings for Monday.
IN THE PIPELINEAutoweb.com (proposed symbol: AWEB): Credit Suisse First Boston expects to price 5.0 million shares at $10-$12. Company sells cars through the Internet. Autoweb.com is located in Santa Clara, California. The froth continues.Rating: A+Expected: Monday for Tuesday
Autobytel.com (proposed symbol: ABTL): BT Alex. Brown plans to offer 4.5 million shares at $14-$16. Another Internet car seller, and the IPO is hot.Rating: A+Expected: Tuesday for Wednesday
MiningCo.com (proposed symbol: MINE): Due to huge prepricing demand, Bear Stearns has increased the proposed price range to $23-$25, up 84.6 percent from $12-$14. Based in New York City, the company provides information and entertainment services over the Internet. By way of comparison, iVillage's (IVIL) IPO increased by about 77 percent before being priced at $24. It opened at $95.88.Rating: A+ -- a moonshot Expected: Tuesday for Wednesday
Critical Path (proposed symbol: CPTH): BancBoston Robertson Stephens has accelerated the San Francisco, California-based email provider.Rating: A+ -- a moonshotExpected: Thursday for Friday.