George Mannes
By permitting investors to submit bids for as few as five shares in its offering, Google has lowered a usual investment hurdle; on the other hand, the company has raised that hurdle with a share count that puts the expected per-share price more than five times the usual figure for an IPO.
For its part, Google has shown remarkable growth in recent years based on the success of its pay-per-click search-engine advertising business. But investors have increasingly grumbled over the last month about Google's stinginess in public discussions of its business prospects, a capital structure giving its co-founders unassailable voting control, and the richness of the proposed price range for the company's stock. Whether this commentary will lead to an offering price below the proposed $108 to $135 price range, or whether it is simply trash talk that will be obliterated by big-spending bidders, remains to be seen. Injecting uncertainty into the whole affair is the expected bigger-than-usual participation, as far as IPOs are concerned, of retail investors in Google's auction.TheStreet Premium Services
Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS:
Trade right alongside a Wall Street pro — enjoy access to his Charitable Trust portfolio and be sent trade alerts BEFORE he makes a move. Learn MoreOptionsProfits:
Get 50+ trade ideas a week from the industry's top options experts. Plus — exclusive commentary on market trends and essential trading tools. Learn MoreReal Money:
Our team of professional Wall Street Pros — including Jim Cramer, Doug Kass, and Nicholas Vardy — delivers intelligent analysis, timely trade ideas, and colorful commentary. Learn MoreStocks Under $10:
Break into the market with small- and mid-cap stocks... all $10 or less! David Peltier tells you exactly which low-priced stocks he's buying and selling. Learn MoreTo begin commenting right away, you can log in below using your Disqus, Facebook, Twitter, OpenID or Yahoo login credentials. Alternatively, you can post a comment as a "guest" just by entering an email address. Your use of the commenting tool is subject to multiple terms of service/use and privacy policies - see here for more details.
blog comments powered by Disqus
| Dow Jones | S&P 500 | NASDAQ | 10-Year Note |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12,419.86 | 1,313.32 | 2,837.36 | 16.25 |
Oil *
103.00
|
|
DOWN
160.83 |
DOWN
19.10 |
DOWN
33.63 |
DOWN
1.06 |
10 Yr
1.62%
SPDR Gold
151.91
|
|
-1.28%
|
-1.43%
|
-1.17%
|
-6.12%
|
Data delayed 20 minutes |


Connect with TheStreet