Tech IPOs will be back with a vengeance in 04

[DesertFox]

Investors, brace yourselves -- 2004 is gearing up to be the year of the technology IPO.

Missed Tech Tuesday? Rev up your PC for 2004 with our annual tune-up guide, plus must-have free utilities and maintenance tips to keep your PC purring.

After a lengthy drought, investment banks are making bold predictions that as many as a dozen European companies will go public in 2004, ranging from software and Internet to mobile phone firms.

The successful initial public offering (IPO) of Scotland's Wolfson Microelectronics, trading some 33 percent above its October issue price, has helped make bankers confident there is pent-up demand for new technology stocks.

And, a recent frenzy for Chinese dot-coms and speculation mounting about the IPO ambitions of Web icon, Google, and U.S. circuit mobile operator, Cingular, has only upped the ante.

More (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=569&ncid=738&e=2&u=/nm/20031223/tc_nm/tech_ipo_dc) [/b]

[EagleTed]

Cingular being spun-off? That's interesting. SBC must be wanting to reduce some debt.

[Wyatt_Junker]

This seems overly optimistic & premature. I'm gonna stick with my Berkshire shares at 10% - 12% TYVM.

Techie schmekie. All it'll take to ruin that confidence is another burning skyscraper, come a-tumblin' down.

[Rink]

Ok, excuse my ignerance, but whuts a 'Tech IPO'?

[EagleTed]

Tech of course is short for Technology Companies. IPO stands for Initial Public Offering, meaning the company is privately held and is being offered itself to public in the form of common stock. This is how dotcom inventors became billionaires in the corrupt ninties.

The fact that they are making come back shows that the market may be getting ahead of itself.

[Rink]

kay thanks

[Estragon]

I think IPOs will return strongly, but there is a whole new view of them. In the late '90s it was just go-go-go. Those who got in through the issuing broker made killings, while many who jumped in on what they thought was a good thing, but an hour late, got taken to the cleaners.

There is a lot more scrutiny from investors and watchdogs now, given the past propensity of brokerages to hype the issues they were underwriting beyond all reality. I don't believe we will see anything like the frenzied debuts of the late '90s and '00.