New Stock Offerings from Wall Street to You
Written: May 05 '04
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Pros: Timely and accurate
Cons: Not very good for research; Must pay for most services
The Bottom Line: This is a good web service for information on IPO and other new stock offerings, but there are better ones out there
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| Bryan_Carey's Full Review: IPO Monitor |
IPO’s (initial public offering of stock) often gain much attention from the media when the company is a large, well- known business that is issuing shares for the first time. Investors often get caught up in the moment when IPO’s are announced, and they often get carried away with their money, sometimes losing a substantial amount of cash in the early days following the offering.
Smaller companies also partake in IPO’s, but their activities often go unnoticed. That is, unless you subscribe to an on- line service that keeps you up to date on the latest companies to go public. There are several web services that keep people informed of IPO’s. And one of them is IPOmonitor.com, a financial web service with lots of ways to help investors keep track of new public offerings of stock.
Features of This Service:
IPO Monitor keeps investors on top of IPO matters with timely advice on IPO and other stock offerings. Here is what you can find, in this web service:
Lifecycle Events- New share issue filings with the SEC, withdraws of prior filings, a calendar of IPO’s about to be priced, actual pricing decisions, and aftermarket data on the price per share following an offering are provided for in this section.
Email Alerts- These are advisory messages sent to members for various IPO events, like IPO pricings, aftermarket reports, daily reports, changes in the IPO calendar, and a weekly wrap- up of IPO lifecycle events.
Proprietary Reports- Here, you will find special reports to keep you informed of different aspects of the IPO market. Examples include listings of the best and worst performing IPO’s, Hot IPO’s, underwriters’ reports, etc.
Search Tools- This allows investors to search for an IPO, either by company name, ticker symbol, industry classification, geographic location, and other methods.
Custom Performance Reports- These are specialized reports that allow you, the investor, to track companies and sort data in the way most suitable for your needs.
Company Profiles- This is a summary sheet that includes a profile of all the different facts and figures on each company in the IPO Monitor database, with such things as company contact information, names of executives, size of IPO offering, shares outstanding, major shareholder names, balance sheet and income statement data, etc.
Signing Up:
Anyone can logon to IPO Monitor and take a look at a few of the basic offerings of the site. But to find out more facts, conduct research, receive e-mail alerts, or anything else advanced, you must first setup a subscription to the service. The current going rate for this service is $29 per month, or $290 for one year.
There is one thing you can signup for that is free of charge: the IPO Monitor newsletter, available via e-mail. But this is just about the only feature that doesn’t cost you any money. Most everything else- including such basics as searching for a company in the database and viewing its profile- require that you subscribe.
Customer Service:
IPO Monitor is headquartered in Los Angeles. If you need to speak with someone about your account or about the service in general, you can call 800-266-0126. You can also send a fax to 310-642-6933 or contact via e-mail by clicking the appropriate link within the web site.
Final Thoughts:
IPO’s often generate a good degree of excitement among investors. The thought of making some quick, easy money by purchasing new shares and then selling them a short time later for an inflated price is a temptation that few investors can resist. And now, thanks to the internet, it is fairly easy and effortless to find out about new IPO offerings and place a bid when the new shares are offered for a first- time sale.
With IPO Monitor, investors are kept well- informed of new stock offerings the moment they become available. The site is very timely, with most IPO pricings and filings showing up on its home page within minutes after they are announced. Timeliness is one of the strongest points of this web service, and this is what you expect, with an IPO or any other investment- type online service.
IPO Monitor’s primary service is to notify investors when an initial public offering has been announced and is nearing its launch. But it also serves to notify investors when non- IPO stock offerings are about to take place. Any type of stock offering, whether it is an IPO or a new offering of shares by an established company, can be found within this web service. This is good, I think, because many times those who are interested in brand- new stock offerings are also curious about secondary offerings from older, public corporations. IPO Monitor covers all of these areas.
Recent filings and pricings are always highlighted on the home page, showing a summary of the most recent companies to make an offering of shares, including the company name, ticker symbol, type of offering, and amount. You can click on the company name to find out more, but you must be an IPO Monitor member for this to be available.
If there is anything bad to say about this service, it would first have to be the cost and the lack of very many free services. The newsletter is free, and so are the summaries of IPO markets from past years and quarters (accessible from the home page). You can also view the companies that have filed for new stock offerings and view the companies that have had recent pricings on the home page (for the last seven days only). But that is it. Everything else available in this web service is going to cost you some money- at least $29 for a one- month subscription. There used to be a free, one- month trial offer, but this is no longer available. Now, you must pay the fee or you cannot access the information.
One other thing that is a bit lacking here is the financial information itself. IPO Monitor lets you know the basics to make a buying decision. It lets you view the balance sheet, the income statement, the shares offered, and other basics. But it doesn’t allow a person to perform the extensive financial analysis that many investors and brokers prefer to make before making a purchase. In other words, IPO Monitor is no substitute for a service like, say, Morningstar.com. It’s not going to give you all the tools you need to find out financial facts pertaining to a specific company. It will inform you about most of what you need, but not necessarily all that you need. Some investors will be satisfied with this. But for other, more inquisitive investors, you will need to logon to another service to get what you need.
Overall, IPO Monitor is a fairly good service that serves its primary function- advising members on IPO and secondary market issues- pretty well. It isn’t going to overload you with information, and the web site itself is rather dull in appearance and features. But it will inform you, quickly and accurately, when a new issue of stock is about to take place.
Recommended:
Yes
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