What Is an IPO? Most New Listings Lose Money in Year 1. Here's How I Filter the Winners.

The enthusiastic trading activity surrounding Space Exploration Technologies' (NASDAQ: SPCX) recent IPO certainly wasn't the first time I had witnessed the phenomenon. Indeed, I was involved in the markets all the way back in the 1990s and watched when a bunch of new technology stocks came to the market in response to the advent of the internet. There's no denying, however, that SpaceX's IPO has rekindled investor interest in such opportunities. This raises the question(s): What exactly is an IPO anyway, and how do I pick winners when most of these newly available stocks are trading down a year later? Missed Nvidia in 2009? This Rare Signal Is Flashing Again. In 2009, a "Double Down" signal flashed for a little-known chipmaker called Nvidia.