Exchange-Traded Exchange: Merc IPO Due Thursday

Everyone loves backing a trailblazer, especially if it turns into a successful venture.

And this week investors get a chance to jump aboard a Wall Street trailblazer, as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the nation's largest market for trading futures contracts, becomes the first U.S. exchange to sell shares to the public. The Merc's much-anticipated $153 million initial public offering is expected to price late Thursday at around $32.50 a share.

The Merc offers something that most IPOs lacked during the latter stages of the bull market: a profitable company with strong year-over-year revenue growth. This year the Merc is on a pace to generate more profits than the much larger Nasdaq Stock Market, which has been mulling its own IPO for several years now.

Cheap or Dear?

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