Talk:Initial public offering/Archives/2015

Values Related to IPO of Dutch East India Company Stock
The statement "Each share was worth 3000 guilders (roughly equivalent to US$1,500)" is entirely incorrect, and a non-expert is cited. The source gives 3,000 fl. = $1,500 USD during the tulip mania crisis, and this source gives 1 fl. (1637) = 11.02 EUR (2013), which is about $14.30 USD (2013). So 3,000 Dutch guilders during tulip mania would be worth about $43,000 USD, not $1,500 USD. And in 1602, three thousand guilders would be worth about $62,000 in 2013 U.S. dollars, so it's not taking into account inflation between 1602 and 1637 anyway. I'm not sure what sources Wikipedia normally uses for historical currency values, but there's no way that this conversion can be correct.

I think it's also necessary to find a source for the initial price of VOC shares at public offering. The 3,000 guilders quoted seems way too high. Maybe that's true and they got people to pay for the privilege of buying shares, but it would have been a terrible investment. The Dutch East India Company article says that "The share price hovered consistently around the 400 mark from the mid-1680s (excepting a hiccup around the Glorious Revolution in 1688), and they reached an all-time high of around 642 in the 1720s. VOC shares then yielded a return of 3.5 percent, only slightly less than the yield on Dutch government bonds." It's clear that some expert source on the IPO price of VOC shares is required here.

There is an incomplete citation at the end of the paragraph - does it refer to this book? GnomeyGustav (talk) 21:19, 26 February 2015 (UTC)
 * I'm removing all of the dubious information about the VOC public stock offering until we can find better sources.GnomeyGustav (talk) 20:17, 1 March 2015 (UTC)

What deterines?
What deterines the IPO price of a company considering going pubic? Many factors including valuation, market conditions and investor sentiment. See Ritter & Welch (2000) for a broad survey overview.

The description of the auction method on the article page is flawed and incomplete. It would be wise for you to do research before posting seemingly-factual information.

Seconding this. May edit to include basic principles only.