Just like opening day at the ball park, investing in new IPOs holds the potential for shining promise and crushing disappointment. If you simply can't bear to just cheer 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

Winner: Fortress Investment Group

  • Ticker: NYSE: FIG
  • Industry: Asset manager
  • Deal terms: 34.3 million shares, $18.50 per share
  • Lead managers: Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers
  • Filed: Nov. 8
  • Opening day: Feb. 9, opened at $35, closed at $31, 67.6% gain
  • Bleacher banter: Priced at high end of its proposed range; first U.S. hedge fund offering

Accuray

  • Ticker: Nasdaq: ARAY
  • Industry: Medical-device maker
  • Deal terms: 13.3 million shares, $18 per share
  • Lead managers: JPMorgan Chase and UBS
  • Filed: Nov. 13
  • Opening day: Feb. 8, opened at $21, closed at $28.47, 58.2 % gain
  • Bleacher banter: Priced above its original proposed range of $14-$16 per share and its revised range of $17-$18 per share

National CineMedia

  • Ticker: Nasdaq: NCMI
  • Industry: In-theater network operator
  • Deal terms: 38 million shares, $21 per share
  • Lead managers: Credit Suisse and Lehman Brothers
  • Filed: Oct. 13
  • Opening day: Feb. 8, opened at $25.50, closed at $25.67, 22.2% gain
  • Bleacher banter: Priced above its proposed range of $18-$20 per share

Optimer Pharmaceuticals

  • Ticker: Nasdaq: OPTR
  • Industry: Biotech
  • Deal terms: 5.3 million shares, $7 per share
  • Lead managers: Piper Jaffray and Jefferies
  • Filed: Nov. 9
  • Opening day: Feb. 9, opened at $7.50, closed at $8.50, 21.4% gain
  • Bleacher banter: Priced below its original proposed range of $12-$14 per share and its downwardly revised range of $8-$9 per share, but sold 1.75 million additional shares

U.S. Auto Parts Network

  • Ticker: Nasdaq: PRTS
  • Industry: Auto parts reseller
  • Deal terms: 10 million shares, $10 per share
  • Lead managers: RBC Capital Markets and Thomas Weisel
  • Filed: Nov. 2
  • Opening day: Feb. 9, opened at $11, closed at $11.90, 19% gain
  • Bleacher banter: Priced at low end of its proposed range

J.A. Solar Holdings

  • Ticker: Nasdaq: JASO
  • Industry: Chinese solar cell manufacturer
  • Deal terms: 15 million American depositary shares, $15 per share
  • Lead managers: CIBC World Markets and Piper Jaffray
  • Filed: Jan. 16
  • Opening day: Feb. 7, opened at $19.06, closed at $17.80, 18.7% gain
  • Bleacher banter: Priced above its proposed range of $12.50-$14.50 per share

Mellanox

  • Ticker: Nasdaq: MLNX
  • Industry: Israeli semiconductor manufacturer
  • Deal terms: 6 million shares, $17 per share
  • Lead managers: Credit Suisse and JPMorgan
  • Filed: Sept. 28
  • Opening day: Feb. 8, opened at $20, closed at $20, 17.6% gain
  • Bleacher banter: Priced above its original proposed range of $12-$14 per share and its revised range of $14-$16 per share

Targa Resources

  • Ticker: Nasdaq: NGLS
  • Industry: Natural gas services provider
  • Deal terms: 16.8 million units, $21 per unit
  • Lead managers: Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, UBS, and Merrill Lynch
  • Filed: Nov. 16
  • Opening day: Feb. 9, opened at $23, closed at $23.76, 13.1% gain
  • Bleacher banter: Priced at high end of its proposed range

Switch & Data

  • Ticker: Nasdaq: SDXC
  • Industry: Interconnection services provider
  • Deal terms: 11.7 million shares, $17 per share
  • Lead managers: Deutsche Bank and Jefferies
  • Filed: Sept. 27
  • Opening day: Feb. 8, opened at $22, closed at $19, 11.8% gain
  • Bleacher banter: Priced above its proposed range of $14-$16 per share

VeriChip Corporation

  • Ticker: Nasdaq: CHIP
  • Industry: Radio frequency chip provider
  • Deal terms: 3.1 million shares, $6.50 per share
  • Lead manager: Merriman Curhan Ford
  • Filed: Dec. 29, 2005
  • Opening day: Feb. 9, opened flat, closed flat, 0% gain
  • Bleacher banter: Reduced proposed amount of shares by 1.2 million and priced at low end of range

Cellcom Israel

  • Ticker: NYSE: CEL
  • Industry: Israeli cellular services provider
  • Deal terms: 20 million American depositary shares, $20 per share
  • Lead managers: Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank
  • Filed: Jan. 17
  • Opening day: Feb. 6, opened at $20.30, closed at $19.54, 2.3% loss
  • Bleacher banter: Priced above its proposed range of $16-$18 per share, and size of offering was increased by 1 million shares

3S Bio Inc.

  • Ticker: Nasdaq: SSRX
  • Industry: Chinese biotech
  • Deal terms: 7.7 million American depositary shares, $16 per share
  • Lead manager: UBS
  • Filed: Jan. 19
  • Opening day: Feb. 7, opened at $17.50, closed at $14.85, 7.2% loss
  • Bleacher banter: Priced above its proposed range of $12-$14 per share

Loser: Synta Pharmaceuticals

  • Ticker: Nasdaq: SNTA
  • Industry: Biotech
  • Deal terms: 5 million shares, $10 per share
  • Lead managers: Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers
  • Filed: Nov. 27
  • Opening day: Feb. 6, opened at $10, closed at $9.09, 9.1% loss
  • Bleacher banter: Pried below its proposed range of $14-$16 per share, and size of offering was reduced by 1 million shares

On deck

Opnext

  • Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: OPXT
  • Industry: Optical module manufacturer
  • Proposed deal terms: 16.9 million shares, $13-$15 per share
  • Lead manager: Goldman Sachs
  • Filed: Oct. 27

Quadra Realty Trust

  • Proposed ticker: NYSE: QRR
  • Industry: Real estate investment trust
  • Proposed deal terms: 16.7 million shares, $15-$17 per share
  • Lead manager: Credit Suisse and Wachovia
  • Filed: Nov. 9

Salary.com

  • Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: SLRY
  • Industry: Compensation software provider
  • Proposed deal terms: 5 million shares, $8-$10 per share
  • Lead manager: Thomas Weisel
  • Filed: Nov. 13

Game of the Week
Up next on the IPO fan's scouting list should be Opnext, a profitable tech company.

Founded in 2000 as a subsidiary of Hitachi (NYSE:HIT), the New Jersey-based company designs and manufactures optoelectronic components for high-speed fiber optic communications networks. The company has vendor relationships with such firms as Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE:ALU), Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), and Hitachi. Hitachi will own approximately 45.7% of the issued shares following the offering, and the company believes that their relationship provides a competitive advantage in semiconductor laser research for the communications market.

Unlike many young techs, Opnext swung into black ink at the end of its fiscal third quarter ended last December, reporting $3.2 million net income and $61.7 million sales, compared to a $4.1 million net loss and $38.6 million sales from a year ago. The company still has an accumulated deficit of more than $280 million.

Shares are expected to begin trading on Thursday. As always, make sure you do your own warm-ups and read through a company's offering documents, including the risk factors, before getting in on the game!

Warming up in the bullpen
China Architectural Engineering, a curtain wall engineer, announced deal terms of 300,000 shares at $3-$4 per share. The lead manager is WestPark Capital.

Sent down to the minors
No company announced postponements of planned offerings last week.

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

BGC Partners

  • Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: BGCP
  • Industry: Financial broker
  • Proposed deal terms: Not yet determined
  • Lead managers: Cantor Fitzgerald and Deutsche Bank
  • Filed: Feb. 8

Biodel

  • Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: BIOD
  • Industry: Pharmaceutical
  • Proposed deal terms: Not yet determined
  • Lead manager: Banc of America
  • Filed: Feb. 7

CAI International

  • Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: CAIU
  • Industry: Container leasing company
  • Proposed deal terms: Not yet determined
  • Lead manager: Piper Jaffray
  • Filed: Feb. 7

NeurogesX

  • Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: NGSX
  • Industry: Biopharmaceutical
  • Proposed deal terms: Not yet determined
  • Lead manager: Morgan Stanley
  • Filed: Feb. 7

TechTarget

  • Proposed ticker: Nasdaq: TTGT
  • Industry: Network operator
  • Proposed deal terms: Not yet determined
  • Lead managers: Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers
  • Filed: Feb. 7

Disabled list
Hyco International, a hydraulic parts manufacturer, and Trident Resources, a Canadian natural gas developer, each withdrew their planned offerings.

Champions
Meet our current champs. Among companies that went public during the last 12 months, these firms' percentage returns from their offer prices to their most recent closing prices rank them as the top five players:

Company

Return

Description

IPO Date

Omrix Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:OMRI)

+264.7%

Biotech

4/21/06

Home Inns & Hotels (NASDAQ:HMIN)

+236.2%

Chinese hotel chain

10/25/06

Riverbed Technology (NASDAQ:RVBD)

+200.2%

Tech

9/20/06

Vanda Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VNDA)

+179.0%

Pharmaceuticals

4/11/06

New Oriental Education (NYSE:EDU)

+175.7%

Chinese educational services provider

4/20/06


Benchwarmers
Now meet our current benchwarmers -- that's nicer to say than "losers," isn't it? Among companies that went public during the last 12 months, these firms' percentage returns from their offer prices to their most recent closing prices rank them as the bottom five players:

Company

Return

Description

IPO Date

Vonage Holdings

(65.2%)

Telecom

5/24/06

Aventine Renewable Energy

(63.5%)

Ethanol producer

6/28/06

Alphatec Holdings

(54.1%)

Medical device maker

6/1/06

Replidyne

(52.1%)

Biotech

6/27/06

Restore Medical

(49.4%)

Medical device maker

5/17/06


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 IPO players turned in a mixed performance, with the IPO Plus Aftermarket (FUND:IPOSX), a mutual fund, advancing 0.3%, while the First Trust IPOX 100 (AMEX:FPX), an ETF, gave back 1.3%. The Nasdaq declined 0.6%, and the Russell 2000 slipped 0.3%.

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

We're publicly offering further Foolishness:

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. Omrix Biopharmaceuticals is a Rule Breakers newsletter selection. The Fool has a disclosure policy.