The Exciting Week For IPOs Could Help IPO ETFs

Posted on May 14, 2015 by admin

The brokerdealer.com blog update has been profiling hot IPOs over the past few weeks as the US market has been on fire with IPOs after poor IPO performance at the beginning of the year. Some market experts believe that the week of IPOs that are still to come will help boost IPO ETFs like the Renaissance IPO ETF (IPO) and First Trust US IPO Index Fund (FPX). This brokerdealer.com blog update is courtesy of Zacks Equity Research article, “A Flurry of IPOs Might Lift IPO ETF“

The U.S. IPO space, which was subdued at the start of 2015, looks to be on fire this week. As per Renaissance Capital, as many as 14 companies are slated to go public this week. This makes the week starting from May 4 the ‘busiest week’ of 2015 so far, per 247wallst.com.

Investors should note that after a massive run last year, the IPO market cooled down considerably in the first quarter of 2015. Per Renaissance, 34 IPOs raised $5.4 billion in capital, making Q1 of 2015 the most inactive per IPO tally since 1Q of 2013. Also, the proceeds from

IPO were the least since 3Q of 2011. Only, the health care sector managed to tread water in the gloomy U.S. IPO market.
Rising rate worries, a strong greenback and later a moderation in U.S. growth have probably raised concerns over the space. However, with the Fed repeatedly hinting at a delayed rate hike, the space has now bucked up.

Renaissance Capital’s IPO schedule indicated that the following companies are making a public market debut this week. These are Tallgrass Energy GP LP, Adaptimmune Therapeutics, International Market Centers, Commercial Credit, Bojangles, Collegium Pharmaceutical, aTyr Pharma, CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Klox Technologies, MultiVir, Gelesis, Anterios, HTG Molecular Diagnostics and OpGen.

To get in on any of these IPOs that are about to launch find a brokerdealer here.

To continue reading about upcoming IPOs and the effective they will have an IPO ETFs, click here.

SEC And Finra Team Up To Host BrokerDealer Compliance Outreach Program

Posted on May 11, 2015 by admin

Brokerdealer.com blog update profiling the SEC and Finra announced the opening of registration to attend their National Compliance Outreach Program for BrokerDealers this summer. The program will host regulators and industry professionals as they discuss ideas for compliance structures in the industry. This brokerdealer.com blog update is courtesy of LeapRate’s article, “SEC and FINRA to hold national compliance outreach program for Broker-Deale” by Andrew Saks-McLeod, with an excerpt below.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry National Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today announced the opening of registration for their 2015 National Compliance Outreach Program for Broker-Dealers. The program is intended to provide an open forum for regulators and industry professionals to discuss compliance practices and exchange ideas on effective compliance structures.

The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), in coordination with the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets, is sponsoring the program with FINRA. The program will be held on July 14 at the SEC’s Washington D.C. headquarters and will focus on 2015 priorities for OCIE and FINRA as well as current topics of interest including cybersecurity, anti-money laundering, and firms’ approaches to supervision and sales practices.

“This program provides an invaluable opportunity to facilitate discussions between regulators and industry participants on important issues affecting the brokerage industry, to promote compliance with federal securities laws, and to enhance investor protection,” said Kevin Goodman, National Associate Director of OCIE’s broker-dealer examination program. “Past programs have been well attended and well received, and we look forward to a candid exchange of ideas with participants at our upcoming event.”

To continue reading about this event hosted by the SEC and Finra, click here.

On The Menu This Week: Bojangles IPO Launches On Friday

Posted on May 5, 2015 by admin

About a month ago, Brokerdealer.com’s blog update covered the southern comfort fast food chain based out of North Carolina, Bojangles, announcement that it would be going public with an IPO after 38 years. On Friday, May 8,2015, Bojangles will officially launch its IPO under the ticker BOJA on the NASDAQ. There are several other IPOs coming out on the menu this week ranging in a wide variety of industries, but Bojangles has set itself apart from the rest.

To learn what sets Bojangles apart from the rest continue reading below and then contact a brokerdealer to invest in this hot new IPO yourself.

This brokerdealer.com blog update is courtesy of Benzinga’s article, “IPO Outlook: Down-Home Cookin’, Fast-Casual Bojangles’ Sizzles Investors“, with an excerpt below.

To say it’s a jam-packed week for the IPO market is an understatement. With twelve IPOs scheduled – ranging from biotechs, REITs, MLPs and a hot restaurant – investors have quite a menu to choose from.

Southeastern restaurant chain Bojangles’ Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ: BOJA) plans to raise $122 million through 6.3 million shares expecting to price between $15 and $17 on Friday.

Bojangles’ will trade on the NASDAQ under the ticker BOJA.

It’s Bo Time

Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bojangles’ joins the other fast-casual restaurants that recently tapped the public markets due to both consumer and investor strong enthusiasm.

The company started in 1977 with a menu centered on “chicken ‘n biscuits” and since has remained relatively unchanged. To put it in context, Bojangles’s is the chicken joint to the Southern realm eateries what Shake Shack Inc SHAK 1.52% is to the burger space in metropolitan areas.

What Makes The ‘Bo Difference’

The company has what it calls the “Bo Difference,” allowing it to grow profits and create a loyal customer base. Its self-described high quality, tasty Southern food is characterized by breakfast biscuits, never frozen bone-in fried chicken, dirty rice, sandwiches, wraps, unique fixin’s, legendary iced tea and its Bo Smart menu.

Bojangles’ five meal offerings include breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and after dinner. Its decision to serve breakfast all day, every day, gives it an edge over its competitors that typically serve breakfast for a limited time or start service with lunch. This edge has paid off as Bojangles’ says in its S-1 that it generates 38 percent of its revenue from 11 a.m. to closing (typically 11 p.m.), or $650,000 on average just from breakfast alone.

To continue reading about this sizzling southern IPO, click here.

Overstock Looking Into Brokerdealers Only Bitcoin-Style Exchange

Posted on April 30, 2015 by admin

Utah Software Engineer Mints Physical Bitcoins

Brokerdealer.com blog update profiles the continued intergration of the popular cyrpto currency, Bitcoin, as Overstock has revealed plans that it may issue up to $500 million in stock through blockchain-style technology, such as bitcoin.

Bitcoin is a form of currency that is tied directly to the Internet and is the world’s first free market, decentralized global currency. It is operated through an open-source software so there is no central control unlike the US dollar or Euro. Similarly to gold, only 21,000,000 Bitcoins will ever be created so the value of the Bitcoin continues to rise as time goes on. Bitcoins can be exchanged for goods and services as well as currencies such as the US dollar and the Euro. As long as people trust that Bitcoin has value, people will continue to invest in it.

Brokerdealer.com’s database has many qualified brokerdealers who are prepared to help you navigate the world of Bitcoin and how you can use it to your advantage when it comes to investing.

Overstock is an American online retailer headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. It initially sold surplus and returned merchandise on an online e-commerce marketplace but in recent years has expanded to sell new merchandise as well.

This brokerdealer.com blog update is courtesy of Finextra News’ article, “Overstock looks to issue Bitcoin-style stocks” with an excerpt below.

Last year Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne hired developers and lawyers in an effort to create a platform – dubbed ‘Medici’ – that could use the core blockchain technology to create a cryptosecurity trading system, in which computer algorithms are used to trade virtual stocks issued by public companies.

The firm has now filed a prospectus related to the sale of securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission, adding: “We may decide to offer any of the securities described in this prospectus as digital securities, meaning the securities will be uncertificated securities, the ownership and transfer of which are recorded on a cryptographically-secured distributed ledger system using technology similar to (or the same as) the distributed ledger technology used for trading digital currencies.”

The prospectus says that these digital securities would not be traded on any existing exchange but on a specific system registered with the SEC as an ATS open only to subscribers that agree to trade exclusively through vetted broker dealers.

To continue reading about the brokerdealer-only Bitcoin exchange plan for Overstock, click here. Additional coverage on this story can also be found at MarketsMuse.com .

SEC Locks Retail Brokers Out Of Stock Market Reform Meeting

Posted on April 29, 2015 by admin

Brokerdealer.com blog update profiles the SEC intentionally leaving retail brokers out of their upcoming meeting on stock market reforms. The group will meet four times a year and review old rules and advice the SEC on new regulation. Retail brokers are confused because the SEC has always made it a priority to protect retail investors so leaving retail brokers out of this advising group is raising questions. This brokerdealer.com update is courtesy of Reuters’ John McCrank in his article, “SEC’s stock market reform club locks out retail brokers” with an excerpt below.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is convening a group of financial industry veterans for the first time next month to consider stock market reforms, but one group will be conspicuously absent: retail brokerages.

The SEC’s 17-member Market Structure Advisory Committee includes representatives of fund companies, an exchange, off-exchange trading venues, dealers, and academia, among others. The group, which meets four times a year, will review old rules, and advise the SEC on a range of new regulations designed to make sure the market is as stable and fair as possible.

Still, given that the SEC has said its main priority is to protect retail investors, the omission of retail brokers raises questions, because without their point of view the panel may recommend changes that favor institutional investors, analysts said. Retail investors place around 16 percent of all U.S. stock orders.

“There’s a missing gap of protecting retail order flow,” said Larry Tabb, chief executive of capital markets advisory firm TABB Group.

That gap was also noticed by committee member Joseph Ratterman, chairman of No. 2 U.S. exchange operator BATS Global Markets. He said he mentioned his concern to SEC Chair Mary Jo White shortly after the committee was announced and that she was supportive of him, along with committee member Jamil Nazarali, from market making firm Citadel Securities, formally representing retail interests.

To continue reading this article from Reuters, click here.