A Fool Looks Back

By Rick Aristotle Munarriz | More Articles
May 23, 2009 | Comments (1)

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You know that the market is hopping when we get not just one, but two IPOs during the same week. SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI ) and OpenTable (Nasdaq: OPEN ) went public on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.

Each deal priced above its initial pricing range, and still headed higher. In fact, OpenTable's 59% pop on Thursday is the strongest first-day gain on an IPO since 2007.

It's still a pretty rare sight these days to find two companies making their Wall Street debuts during the same week. It was a pretty scary drought when the bear was growling a few months ago. There wasn't a single IPO during the months of December and January.

As long as the market appears stable, this year's trickle of mostly successful IPOs may eventually turn into a gusher. Underwriters can certainly use the business. Investors shouldn't mind the wider selection of available investments.

Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.

Consolidation is alive and well. Data storage giant NetApp (Nasdaq: NTAP ) will be snapping up Data Domain (Nasdaq: DDUP ) in a $1.5 billion deal. So, yes, even though stock prices have moved nicely higher since mid-March, companies with cash to spend are still liking today's prices.
There are signs that the housing industry is bottoming out, but if you want to see actual growth you may want to check on China. E-House (NYSE: EJ ) helped broker $1.5 billion in transactions this past quarter, 88% ahead of what the agency lined up a year ago.
Sirius XM Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI ) is hoping that it can woo more subscribers to pay up for its "best of" offering, where XM or Sirius subscribers pay $4 more a month to hear the most popular programming from the other service. From now through Memorial Day, Sirius is beaming its Howard 100 and Howard 101 channels to active XM receivers. Those are the two magnetic channels starring Howard Stern, naturally. It's a good move for the satellite radio operator, since it bears little cost but can have material upside if the tease is effective.

Until next week, I remain,

Rick Munarriz

The Steve Jobs Betrayal
You may already know that in the final year of his life, Jobs revealed a stunning betrayal — and told his biographer, "I will spend my last dying breath... and every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank to right this wrong." What was it that made Jobs so irate — and why could it make a few in-the-know investors some major profits over the coming months and years?

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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz recommends windshield wiper fluid when trying to look back. He does not own shares in any of the stocks in this story. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy.

Read/Post Comments (1) | Recommend This Article (9)

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Help us keep this a respectfully Foolish area! This is a place for our readers to discuss, debate, and learn more about the Foolish investing topic you read about above. Help us keep it clean and safe. If you believe a comment is abusive or otherwise violates our Fool's Rules, please report it via the Report this Comment icon found on every comment.

Report this Comment On May 25, 2009, at 10:47 PM, kellogg9 wrote:

Ah yes i remember the times of WitCaptial (anyone here remember them) when ordinary folk could buy into IPOs too and not just fat investors and funds.
Green Energy investments is always a good choice especially with this new administration which clearly has a desire to make the world a breathable place. My new portfolio for the year includes several stocks in the green business
Kelly - http://www.stockcoupons.com/

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