IPO Door Swings Open

It's the busiest day of the year for initial public offerings.

Seven IPOs are expected to price Tuesday, according to Thomson Financial, the most of any day since December 2005. All told, the deals will bring almost $800 million in new equity to the stock market.

While the offerings are each on the small side, they show the eagerness of companies to raise money during the market's latest minirevival. Since hitting a 7 1/2-month low two weeks ago, the Nasdaq Composite has bumped up 2.2%, while the S&P 500 has added about 2%.

"After the big correction that we've had, people are looking for any opportunity of stability to get in there and get the deal done," says Marc Pado, chief market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald. "People want to get things out of the way before volumes really bottom," later in the summer.

The thriving deal market comes during what is usually a slow time on Wall Street, although the $100 billion-plus pace of mergers over the last three sessions has managed to keep the news flow strong. What's more, the equity markets have shown stability in the face of a pending interest rate decision from the Federal Reserve, which is due on Thursday.

Still, many experts believe that this could be a last-gasp period for IPOs. The string of new offerings, which is expected to continue through the end of the week, will slow in the coming months.

"The IPO market is in good shape, but this is not a precursor to the last half of the year being frenetic," says David Menlow, president at IPOFinancial.com. After a period of shakiness, the market has jumped back into deal-making mode, he says. "People will wonder if underwriters are trying to clear off their desk, or if the market is showing signs of continued strength. I think this is more about the underwriters trying to get business done."