Ben's IPO Syndicate Primer, Part 3

You're beginning to get it, aren't you? You're starting to notice the signs everywhere that this IPO market is for real. Jim Cramer was absolutely right yesterday when he wrote that the underwriters are giving away free money again. The game is on, people.

So what are you going to do? If you've been involved with IPOs in past cycles, especially the last one, you've no doubt learned a few lessons that will help you this time around. If you're new to the game, believe me, you're in the right place. I'm going to do what I can to bring you up to speed and help you separate the myth from the reality. That's why they keep me around here.

The biggest hurdle you face in buying IPOs is getting your hands on the shares. IPO shares, unlike most stocks already trading in the open market, are usually in an extremely limited supply. This is a function of the number of shares being offered in a particular deal. A typical IPO goes, say, 5 million shares. That's not a lot of stock, and that is what makes it hard to get. Some deals are smaller, some larger. ...