N.J. The increased pace of withdrawals has had the effect of lightening the load for investors through the rest of 2000. Conn. Normally, the pace of withdrawn IPOs wouldn't be unusual, particularly in a market environment that allowed just three major offerings to price last week. In short, a heavy calendar generally reflects a more favorable market for companies to come public, she said. Still, some do. In the spring, when the market was just as bad for new issues, new filings continued.
Companies have fewer options now, though.
The clock is ticking, with just a few weeks open before the Thanksgiving and late December holidays take much of the trading volume out of the market. After December, there's generally a lag time until late January before the market picks up again. Those that have come to market have generally paid a price for it. The offering was supposed to price two weeks ago but was put off until Thursday. Even the one company to price strongly last week had a tough go of it.