Alien's Creepy IPO Ride

Savvy IPO sales techniques usually work on investors, especially those eager to get their hands on shares of the latest new thing.

But in the case of Alien Technology, the manufacturer of radio frequency identification systems, the bankers couldn't put enough lipstick on the pig to save the company's initial public offering from being pulled last Friday.

To be sure, the Alien Tech IPO began with a couple of strikes against it. The Morgan Hill, Calif.-based company decided to go public just as the environment for IPOs began to sour on Wall Street. It didn't help that Alien Tech has never turned a profit in its brief history. ...