Scouting the Latest IPOs

Just like opening day at the ballpark, investing in new IPOs holds the potential for shining promise and crushing disappointment. If you simply can't bear just cheering on your favorites from the sidelines, at least be careful about investing in this league. Many new issues swing for the fences during their first trading days, only to slump once marketing hype has given way to mundane earnings reports.

Don't commit an error by stocking your entire portfolio with rookies. Allocate just a small percentage of your risk capital to IPOs. Scout your potential phenoms carefully, and be choosy about composing your own rotisserie league. Investing with an eye for a season extending long beyond opening day will reward you with quality players capable of staying in the game. With that in mind, we offer our Foolish scouting report of the latest IPOs.

Last week's games
Only one game took place last week, and the player performed admirably.

InnerWorkings

• Ticker: Nasdaq: INWK
• Industry: Print solutions provider
• Deal terms: $9 per share, priced at the high end of its projected range; 10.6 million shares
• Lead managers: Morgan Stanley, Jefferies, and Piper Jaffray
• Opening day: August 16; opened at $10.25 and closed at $10.45; 16.1% gain
• Bleacher banter: InnerWorkings benefited from being the only new offering during last week's market rally.

On deck
No major IPOs, other than a blank-check company, are slated for the coming week.

Game of the week
Enjoy the summer break and head to the ballpark during the lull in new equity games before Labor Day. You may want to bring some registration statements with you to peruse during the seventh-inning stretch, as IPO filings continue to pile up.

Warming up in the bullpen
No other companies announced further details of their offering plans.

Sent down to the minors
No other companies announced postponements of their offerings.

Minor-league developments
Get ready, get set . not yet! The latest filings announced last week include:

Biotech ActivBiotics

• Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: ACTV
• Industry: Biopharmaceutical
• Proposed deal terms: Not yet determined
• Lead managers: HSBC, Needham, BMO Capital Markets, and Susquehanna Financial
• Filed: August 14

BreitBurn Energy Partners

• Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: BBEP
• Industry: Energy limited partnership
• Proposed deal terms: $19-$21 per share; 6 million shares
• Lead managers: RBC Capital Markets, Citigroup, and Credit Suisse
• Filed: August 16

Emergent Biosolutions

• Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: EBSI
• Industry: Biopharmaceutical
• Proposed deal terms: Not yet determined
• Lead managers: JP Morgan, Cowen & Co., and HSBC
• Filed: August 14

GenuTec Business Solutions

• Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: GENU
• Industry: Software developer
• Proposed deal terms: Not yet determined
• Lead managers: Ladenburg Thalmann and Roth Capital
• Filed: August 14

Hansen Medical

• Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: HNSN
• Industry: Medical device maker
• Proposed deal terms: Not yet determined
• Lead managers: Morgan Stanley and JP Morgan
• Filed: August 16

Netlist

• Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: NLST
• Industry: Memory device maker
• Proposed deal terms: Not yet determined
• Lead managers: Thomas Weisel, Needham & Co., and WR Hambrecht
• Filed: August 18

Picis

• Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: PICS
• Industry: Software provider
• Proposed deal terms: Not yet determined
• Lead managers: Goldman Sachs, Piper Jaffray, Thomas Weisel, and William Blair
• Filed: August 18

Disabled list
Tandem Health Care, a health care service provider, withdrew its planned offering last week.

Current champions
Meet our current 2006 champs. Among companies that went public this calendar year, these firms' percentage returns from their offer prices to last week's closing price rank them as the top five players:

Current benchwarmers
Now meet our current 2006 benchwarmers -- that's nicer to say than "losers," isn't it? Among companies that went public this calendar year, these firms' percentage returns from their offer prices to last week's closing prices rank them as the bottom five players:

Groupies and fan clubs
If you don't want to declare your loyalties for specific players but still want to enjoy the action, consider subscribing to an IPO-focused mutual fund or exchange-traded fund. Of course, do your scouting homework here, too, and make sure you read their prospectuses before buying season tickets.

Last week, the First Trust IPOX 100 (AMEX:FPX), an ETF, rose 3.2%, edging out the IPO Plus Aftermarket (FUND:IPOSX), a mutual fund, which gained 2.7%. The general market fared even better, with the Russell 2000 rising 4.2%, and the Nasdaq advancing 5.2%.

Keep reading the Fool to see how your favorite players perform as they mature!

We're publicly offering further Foolishness:

• IPO Market Gets Loop-y
• IPOs' Dirty Little Secret

Sources: Renaissance Capital's IPOhome.com, SEC filings, Reuters.

Fool contributor S.J. Caplan roots for the Cleveland Indians when her husband is watching and for the Boston Red Sox when he leaves the room. She holds no financial position in any firms or funds mentioned here. The Fool has a disclosure policy.