looking for advice on how to subscribe in ipo's? whats the best way ? how do you do it? what do i need to do? things like that......
and, as a small investor , am i allowed?

come on people, i am looking for advice here .pretty please......

AFN own a company called EO which specialises in IPO's offerred to the Public on-line.
It is their intention to re-launch it later this year, so keep your eyes peeled - it could also be a big moneyspinner so buy yourself some shares too.

Most IPO's available to the public are overpriced and not worth participating in. One's avail to institutions you will only get via a good stockbroker. They would provide such a service only to their richest and highest commission paying clients, so in essence it's DYOR & buy in the aftermarket if you think it's a winner. Q to ask self though is this? Who is selling? Why are they Selling? What is the upside?

There are plenty of good companies to invest in out there without the need to be suckered in to line the pockets of some greedy entrepreneur. History shows that most IPO's underperform long term. Just look at the tech bubble. Where there is demand, supply will be forthcoming.

Care to invest in a speculative gold mine? plenty of those around at the mo'. In fact a quick glance at what is being floated tells a lot about a sector. The more equity in the pipeline the more overpriced the sector IMO.

Sorry to be negative, just bitter experience I'm afraid!

P.S. about 5 yrs ago the stock exchange in it's wisdom made it easier for companies to float without having to make a public offer. You can thank them for the difficulties you now face.

FTreader - that is not quiet true. The dotcom & many IT compnies that were floated, basically should never have been.
There are quite alot of companies being lined up that would appeal to the public with good profitable track records ie. Halfords & Ikea - many have been on the backburner due to the bear market.
The largest IPO in 3 years is priced tomorrow - Belgacomm - also open to the public, albeit probablt only to belgians? followed by Eircomm.
Much of the problem with IPO's & the public had to do with costs & admin - much of this would be cut out if done electronically. So i believe their still is a market for the public without being ripped off, but we will have to see how it develops.
BTW - William Hill was the last biggish one open to the public about 18 months ago & is up around 70%.

thanks for the advice fellas. i too got fingers burnt during the last gold rush, but i feel now is a good time to be looking at ipo's as some potentially good companies are looking to float . so far i have found out that its institutions that are getting the pick of the bunch and i just wondered if that was indeed the case or if anyone knew something different.

Torex Retail IPO last tuesday issue price 40p broker/underwriter Evolution. Opened up early 50's at 8.02 am on the first day of trading went to 65p mid price currently where it lies with a 5p spread bid/offer. As far as I can see any trades of decent sizes have been cross trades so who knows whats gone/going on??? All I know is the share price has stopped moving and there is hardly any volume......Should be a good medium/long term bet though.......once the cross trades stop!!!

It isn't all doom and gloom. Drop me a mail if you want to discuss.