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How to Play the Hottest IPO Market in Years

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  • (0:30) - IPO Market On A Hot Steak
  • (3:15) - 2017 IPOs: Investment Ideas   
  • (7:40) - Pot Stocks
  • (10:15) - IPO focused ETFs: Investment Ideas
  • (15:45) - IPO spinoffs
  • (21:50) - Episode Roundup: Podcast@Zacks.com

Welcome to Episode #80 of the Zacks Market Edge Podcast.

Every week, host and Zacks stock strategist, Tracey Ryniec, will be joined by guests to discuss the hottest investing topics in stocks, bonds and ETFs and how it impacts your life.

In this episode, Tracey is joined by Eric Dutram, Zacks Senior ETF Strategist and the editor of the weekly ETF Investor service which holds a basket of ETFs.

The IPO Market Sizzles in 2017

In case you haven’t been paying attention, the IPO market has picked up again. After several years in the doldrums, 2017 has started off with a fast and furious market and that momentum has been building.

So far, 45 companies have gone public this year with 7 going public on the same day last week. In 2016, just 105 companies went public which was the lowest level in several years.

Of course, we all remember the record-setting year of 1999 when 486 companies went public as the dot-com bubble inflated. No one is saying this market is like 1999 but it’s certainly the hottest market in years.

Who’s Gone Public This Year?

There’s been an interesting mix of companies. It hasn’t all been technology companies.

1.       Apparel retailers Canada Goose (GOOS - Free Report) and J.Jill  (JILL) defied the naysayers by going public during a difficult time in the retail industry.

2.       In the home improvement category, Lumber Liquidators competitor, Floor & Décor (FND) also launched.

3.       In the hot immunotherapy area was TOCAGEN (TOCA).

But Tech Has Been King

The largest IPOs year-to-date, however, have been technology.

1.       SNAP (SNAP - Free Report) has a $25 billion market cap. Shares surged out the gate but are down about 10%.

2.       Cloudera (CLDR), a big data software company, was up 20% on its first day. It has a $2.3 billion market cap and is backed by Intel, which owns about a 20% stake.

3.       MuleSoft went IPO just 15 days after SNAP but not many noticed. It makes integrating software and has a $2.8 billion market cap. Shares initially popped and are now down 9.4%.

Buy the IPO Market with ETFs

But what if you don’t want to buy individual IPO stocks?

That strategy can take more capital and has its risks since you’re not as diverse buying individual shares.

The ETF community has an answer to most trading dilemmas and it does with IPOs. There are 2 ETFs which buy a group of the IPO market.

Tracey and Eric drill down into the differences between the two ETFs.

1.       The oldest ETF is the First Trust US IPO (FPX - Free Report) which was launched in 2006. It holds 100 stocks for up to 1,000 days. It is tilted towards medium and large caps and also owns the spin-off stocks.

2.       The Renaissance IPO (IPO - Free Report) was launched in 2013 and holds just 47 stocks. It’s holding time is shorter, at just 2 years. It doesn’t hold the spin-offs so you’re getting the public company spin-offs only.

Both ETFs have been outperforming the S&P 500 this year yet most IPOs remain off the investment radar.

Should you play the hot IPO market this year?

Find out what Tracey and Eric think investors should be doing in the IPO market on this week’s podcast.

More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!

It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere
1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more
than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.

Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging
phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020. Click here for the 6 trades >>