There were a record 768 initial public offerings in 1996 — the proverbial high water mark. Times have changed since that fateful year Yahoo! went public. This year should exceed the 236 IPOs of 2006, but won’t even come close to 1996.
The IPOs making the headlines lately have been in emerging markets and energy. Just yesterday, China approved the offering of the largest coal producer, Shenhua Energy. This year also saw the initial public offering of the country’s largest property lender.
Stock Exchange Floor image courtesy Library of Congress
