IPO's still doing investors harm!

A few years ago I saw a report that showed the devastating results for investors who bought initial public offerings (IPOs). Almost all were down hugely a year later, while the investment banks and underwriters made similarly large multi-million dollar fees for bringing them public.

But some of that could be blamed on the 2000-2002 bear market. So how have the IPOs of the last 12 months fared? Of the 25 tech companies that went public with initial public offerings in the last 12 months, only four are still higher than their first public trade price. The five worst, in spite of initial pops up, are now down an average of 64%. (Source Investment Management Research.)

And still investors clamor to get in on IPOs, and complain to their brokers when they can't get part of the initial allocation. Makes me wonder how those who are currently so excited about the upcoming Google IPO will feel about it a year from now.