MARKET RESEARCH
While it still helps to know a broker if you want IPO shares at the offer price, you can be your own analyst using online resources to determine whether a company is a one-day wonder or is likely to make you a bundle over time.
For starters, head to IPO Express on Edgar Online (www.edgar-online.com). It's not pretty, but in terms of sheer quantity of data, this SEC database is the place to go. Powered by programmer/netrepreneur Corey Ostman's Alert-IPO!, IPO Express scans S-1 filings and serves up succinct summaries on companies. Want to know how far in the red the hottest dot-com remains? It's all there. Even better, Ostman and staff talk to the underwriters several times a day, so IPO Express' calendar is the most up-to-date of its kind on the Web. A subscription to Edgar starts at $9.95 a month; for $3 more, IPO Express provides email updates of forthcoming issues, changes in offerings, and lock-up period expirations.
For a cross-reference, punch up IPOhome (www.ipohome.com). Launched in June 1996, it's run by the folks at Renaissance Capital, the self-proclaimed IPO experts who run the IPO Plus Aftermarket Fund. The fund focuses exclusively on recent issues (those less than two years old), and was ranked number one for October 1999 by Lipper, a New Jersey-based mutual fund tracker. Unlike IPO Express, IPOhome indicates what it thinks are "hot deals," and it provides a free, easy-to-follow table that lists aftermarket performance on recent deals. For $50 apiece, Renaissance will also send you a comprehensive report on a company's offerings.
Once you've gathered your primary research, check out ipoPros (www.ipopros.com) to hear from market mavens with cred. Founded in 1998 by Ben Holmes, a former hedge fund manager for Worldwide Capital, ipoPros revels in telling you exactly what to buy and what to pass up. It also rates offerings based on anticipated first-day performance. The only catch with ipoPros: It'll set you back $25 a month. Pick the right IPO, of course, and the $25 will seem a trifle.
- Beth Kwon (bkwon@thestreet.com)
IPO Express:www.edgar-online.com/ipoexpress.
IPOhome:www.ipohome.com.
ipoPros:www.ipopros.com.
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