>>, i suppose big money has been made or lost, but haven't you posted that this is a stock that has split more than once...<<
Ike, yes amzn has had more splits than I've had haircuts. The big $money was made just starting about 13 months ago. If you don't trust me on that you can ask Mark,TomD or William.
Now for us shorts? I did pretty well hedging Amzn down from 205 to around 100, but right now I have no current position.
I did buy some phone.com (Phcm)last week, before the IPO, and that was like pulling teeth.
It continues to blow my mind how these Internet IPO's are still taking off like crazy.
Here's another out next week, Salon.com. Please read this, unfortunately I can't cut and paste it.
<<'All-talk, no-revenue IPO has watchers shaking their heads' by Andrea Orr Palo Alto, CA
Internet watchers are not surprised by much anymore. But some of the most jaded are perplexed by the upcoming initial public offering (IPO) of Salon.com.
Salon, the San Francisco-based online magazine that has no profits and only a trickle of revenues, has been criticized for its shaky financial model as much as it has been praised for its thoughtful commentary.
Not only did Salon bring in a mere $3 million in revenue last year, but almost all of that came from a few advertisers. If one single advertiser were to pull its ads, the business could be upset considerably. Borders Books last year accounted for 13 percent of total ad revenue.
Salon is in the mandated quiet period before its IPO, expected this week, and was unable to comment on its financial position.
The question is how a high-brow magazine that sells little more than ideas and observations to a loyal but relatively small following can rebuild itself as a media empire that would be needed to justify a valuation well over $100 million.
That is the amount Salon could be worth, on paper, in a few days when it sells shares at an expected price around $10 a share. Or, it could be worth much more, if investors stampede the way they have to get in on other 'dot com' offerings.
"It's a difficult concept as far as IPO's go. I can't recall any other similar IPO like it," said David Simmons of Digital Video Investments.
"The problem with any journalistic enterprise is that it is extremely labor intensive and you have that whole issue of scaling that you don't have at a Yahoo! or an eBay. That core asset base of human beings churning out copy all the time is very expensive, very difficult to leverage to profitability."
Of course, there is always the chance this offering could be a bust. Some critics argue that the possibility is not so remote given the company's shaky financials, the negative publicity over the offering, and the current stat of the IPO market, in which demand for even the most solid companies has softened.
The offering is getting notice for other reasons as well. Salon is going public in a new format called the 'Open IPO' in which shares will be sold through an auction rather than at a fixed price.
Underwriter W.R.Hambrecht touts the Open IPO as a fairer way to price new shares, allowing all bidders rather than just select investment bankers to influence the price.
Some critics suspect Salon had other reasons for choosing an Open IPO. "I suspect they had some difficulty lining up an underwriter," said one analyst.
On Salon's lengthy 'to do' list, are plans to keep readers on its site and develop new sources of revenue so it is less dependent on the shaky banner-ad model. It is even planning to market 'upscale Salon-branded products... to our high-value demographic base'.
Ps
We might have 2 buyers here, Michelle and William. Michelle's a San Francisco girl, and William likes to auction, and is attracted to the slut, Hambrecht.;-)) |
