Charger:
I seem to be running into you all over SI (the pleasure's mine).
Trading IPO's at the open is not for the faint of heart. I've played a
few now and again when I felt good about the company's market
niche, potential, etc. But the operative word is "played", because
they're impossible to predict. I was lucky enough to get a few shares
of VeriSign and Steelcase from my Dean Witter broker prior to the
open, sold them shortly thereafter, and did quite well.
I bought DoubleClickat 30 1/2 just after it started trading, and sold
it a few weeks later at 31 1/2 when I got nervous because nearly
half their revenues are from Alta Vista, and Alta Vista is rapidly losing
market share.
Last summer I missed Peritus at the open. It was priced at $16.00. I
had a limit order in at $20.00, but it gapped up immediately past that
to $24.00. Recently PTUS traded at $5.00 and change.
The bottom line is buy in if you feel lucky, but only with your play
money. On the other hand, if you plan to invest long term, perhaps
you could wait for a correction after the initial froth. Take a look at
the charts of some recent tech IPO's (VRSN, DCLK, VNWK, ITVU,
GTSG, RLAXY, CTWO, MUSE, EXDS) and see if there's a pattern
to the trading over the initial few hours, days, or weeks you'd feel
comfortable trying to exploit. |
