According to Kevin Connelly at the E*Trade Red Hat IPO support line, the directed shares program shares have not yet been allocated (as of 2h32pm EST). However, I've received one of those "we were unable to allocate shares" messages too. I highly suspect that what is happening is that during confirmation, my IOI was somehow changed from general to IOI.
Fortunately, I confirmed again an hour later, and that order is still on the books.
I got mine just now after all has been over. Fortunately that Slashdot exists, to warn me of the problem;-) Moreover, the mail didn't have a valid To: field. So it got filed into the SPAM folder by my e-mail sorting program. Fortunately I had the program set up in such a way as to display subjects of all mails.
So, if you have a spam-filter too, check first whether the mail hasn't been filtered by it
It opened at $46, peaked at $50 and is currently 40 15/16 and falling. Does anybody already have their shares? So what if we finally get our shares when they will be at $30? Will we be able to collectively sue for the $20 of lost income per share;-)?
I called earlyer this morning, but the broker told me "we'll have to start over all again", and asked me all data I had entered. It just looks like this was for a new order instead of confirming an existing one. Does this mean that I just lost the benefit of the letter and re-entered as a peon? (Btw, I did mention that as an Open Source Community Member, I was part of the Directed Shares program).
> I'm sure Nostradamus fanatics will claim afterwords that Nostradamus' 1999 prediction was a prediction of the JFK jr. plane crash or something.
Hey, this is Slashdot. Our interpretations of Nostradamus' predictions should at least have something to do with computers. How about this: On the day of the great eclipse, a great king from the sky will bring much wealth to Linux (the RHAT IPO...). And this prediction even has the advantage that it still can fail (due to those pesky delays...);-)
Moreover this Friday is also the end of July 1999 in Julian calendar (the calendar that was in use before the current Gregorian calendar). And Nostradamus predicted the following:
L'an mil neuf cent nonante neuf sept mois, Du ciel viendra grand Roy deffrayeur Resusciter la grand Roy d'Angolmois. Aunt après Mars regner par bonheur.
> So, bottom line, if you want to trade in an IPO, check back about ever hour until it shows up, or do what I'm going to do...get another account with a different online trading company.
Unfortunately, there are no other online brokers which do IPOs, or are there?
You should have used the number printed on the letter: that was a special RHAT IPO support line.
I called them at that number, and they reset my profile without any problems.
Btw, you could have used that extra money in your E*Trade account to short E*Trade (wouldn't that have been ironic): since Monday, EGRP dropped from over $30 to $23 3/4. Now, unfortunately, it's too late: I don't think it can fall any further.
Actually, most Goldman Sachs customers are "indirect" customers: they submit their order (of affordable value) through their bank, which consolidates it with similar orders, and then forwards it to Goldman Sachs.
I ask that same question to their phone support, and they told me that the amount you asked had no influence on the probability to get shares. The person who asked 4K shares does not have any bigger chances than you to get at least 100.
However, take this with a grain of salt: they're known to have lied to other questions, so maybe this one as well.
Knowing the exchange rates would not help you anyways. Interstellar security and exchange commission (ISEC) rules forbid you to do any interstellar commerce if you are not a resident of Alpha Centauri, and if you have not at least a yearly income of 100000000 credits. However, Stellar*Trade has allowed for a loophole: if you paint yourself all green and lie about your homeplanet and income you might be eligible.
Actually, in most countries, you can take part in an IPO using a bank, even if you plan to invest a smaller amount. The bank will then work with the underwriting syndicate to get the order filled. Of course, the probability of actually getting any shares may be very small, as the underwriting syndicate is still free to privilege its larger customers.
However, if VA would draw up a "letter" which would be useable through this channel, that would take care of that probability problem as well.
One way to do this would be to send out paper letters (maybe only on request, in order not to waste postage to people who are not interested anyways), or to communicate names to their "lead underwriter" (i.e. the equivalent of Goldman Sachs).
Advantage for the investor: he would deal with a bank of his own countries, with a bank that already knows him well enough, so there would be no silly questionnaire, nor any place of residence restrictions.
I hope VA explores this possibility, as indeed the E*Trade solution has been less than satisfactory for most of us.
This is not a SEC rule, but merely an E*Trade "house-rule". See my earlyer comment about this matter.
At least as far as the issue of US residency is concerned, it seems that E*Trade is more concerned that there might be foreign rules that might restrict them from doing business with foreign residents. If you are a non-US resident, try getting a certificate from your own regulatory body (most are quite cooperative) attesting that no such rule exists in your country, and fax it to E*Trade's compliance department (650 331 6806)
> 've heard many things (nothing official yet) that all the major outstanding issues will be resolved on monday. Does this mean that issue about the eligibility of non-US residents will be resolved too? That'd be great!
According to Christopher Boyce of E*Trade's Compliance Department, the issue is the following:
If you are a foreign resident; they are concerned that your country might have a regulation that may prevent them to sollicit business there. However, most countries actually have no such rule, it's just a cover-your-ass measure. If you are a foreign resident, you might want to try to get a statement attesting that there is no such law from the regulatory body of your own country, and fax it to Henri Carter, Vice President of the Compliance Department of E*Trade Securities Inc. at 650 331 6806
Well, it that doesn't help, take the plane to the US, and submit a change of address: You become a resident the day you arrive there. And if you spent all your money on your E*Trade account for the IPO, with nothing left for the plane ticket, you may also skip the bit about the plane.
Strange. The response I got was "Sorry, this is confidential information". They even considered the number of shares as confidential, even though it is displayed at several places on the Web.
> The SEC rules this type of investing as speculative, thus requiring the participating investors to be "accredited". One thing that I fail to understand about these so-called SEC rules is why do you have to be eligible if you want to get the shares at IPO price, whereas no eligibility test is done for normal purchases after the IPO. So, you are allowed to buy RHAT when it starts being publically traded on the stock market. However, the opening price is usually higher than the offering price, and usually the price sharply drops during the first day or week, but rarely falls below the offering.
Example: Suppose Red Hat gets priced at $15, opens at $60, and then levels off to $20 over the course of the first week of trading. Those who bought 100 shares at the IPO price will have won $500. However, those who got bounced and who tried there luck by buying at opening (assuming they were that naive) would have lost $4000. So where is the logic in this silly restriction? It seems to be that the restriction is actually pushing investors towards a trade with more risk, not less.
>Place of residence - you gotta live in the US. SEC rules. Bzzzt. No such SEC rule. If you don't believe me, call Jack Hardy at the SEC (202 942 7040).
According to Christopher Boyce of E*Trade's Compliance Department, the issue is slightly different: If you are a foreign resident; they are concerned that your country might have a regulation that may prevent them to sollicit business there. However, most countries actually have no such rule, it's just a cover-your-ass measure. If you are a foreign resident, you might want to try to get a statement attesting that there is no such law from the regulatory body of your own country, and fax it to Henri Carter, Vice President of the Compliance Department of E*Trade Securities Inc. at 650 331 6806
Here in Luxembourg, Joe Random luser can just walk into hist bank and participate in an IPO (did that last year with SES, along with 1000s other Joe Randoms). No investing experience required. No huge net worth required (I had just started working, and apart from the money for that investment, my account was basically empty). No silly questionaire to answer. Just walk up to the counter, fill out the order slip, and hand it in. No fuss. No muss. No nothing. So why are American brokerages so anal about IPOs?
And for the record: yes, SES did tank a week after its emission, in a way. And yes, many investors were angry about this, but nobody was silly enough to sue his bank. Everybody assumed his responsibility, like a man. End of story.
Slashdot Mirror
Fortunately, I confirmed again an hour later, and that order is still on the books.
Same here
I got the letter, but haven't gotten the shares yet :-(
Yes, but we still don't have the shares in our accounts. This will happen later today. By then, it may just have dropped to $20 or lower :-(
So, if you have a spam-filter too, check first whether the mail hasn't been filtered by it
It opened at $46, peaked at $50 and is currently 40 15/16 and falling. Does anybody already have their shares? So what if we finally get our shares when they will be at $30? Will we be able to collectively sue for the $20 of lost income per share ;-)?
I called earlyer this morning, but the broker told me "we'll have to start over all again", and asked me all data I had entered. It just looks like this was for a new order instead of confirming an existing one. Does this mean that I just lost the benefit of the letter and re-entered as a peon? (Btw, I did mention that as an Open Source Community Member, I was part of the Directed Shares program).
This number seems to be hopelessly overloaded. I've been waiting on hold for a quarter of an hour now... (Usually, it was answered within 5 minutes)
Hey, this is Slashdot. Our interpretations of Nostradamus' predictions should at least have something to do with computers. How about this: On the day of the great eclipse, a great king from the sky will bring much wealth to Linux (the RHAT IPO...). And this prediction even has the advantage that it still can fail (due to those pesky delays...) ;-)
L'an mil neuf cent nonante neuf sept mois,
Du ciel viendra grand Roy deffrayeur
Resusciter la grand Roy d'Angolmois.
Aunt après Mars regner par bonheur.
An IPO article without news about the fiasco? That definately lacks spice.
Wouldn't that get them into trouble with the FDA?
Unfortunately, there are no other online brokers which do IPOs, or are there?
I called them at that number, and they reset my profile without any problems.
Btw, you could have used that extra money in your E*Trade account to short E*Trade (wouldn't that have been ironic): since Monday, EGRP dropped from over $30 to $23 3/4. Now, unfortunately, it's too late: I don't think it can fall any further.
Actually, most Goldman Sachs customers are "indirect" customers: they submit their order (of affordable value) through their bank, which consolidates it with similar orders, and then forwards it to Goldman Sachs.
However, take this with a grain of salt: they're known to have lied to other questions, so maybe this one as well.
Knowing the exchange rates would not help you anyways. Interstellar security and exchange commission (ISEC) rules forbid you to do any interstellar commerce if you are not a resident of Alpha Centauri, and if you have not at least a yearly income of 100000000 credits. However, Stellar*Trade has allowed for a loophole: if you paint yourself all green and lie about your homeplanet and income you might be eligible.
However, if VA would draw up a "letter" which would be useable through this channel, that would take care of that probability problem as well.
One way to do this would be to send out paper letters (maybe only on request, in order not to waste postage to people who are not interested anyways), or to communicate names to their "lead underwriter" (i.e. the equivalent of Goldman Sachs).
Advantage for the investor: he would deal with a bank of his own countries, with a bank that already knows him well enough, so there would be no silly questionnaire, nor any place of residence restrictions.
I hope VA explores this possibility, as indeed the E*Trade solution has been less than satisfactory for most of us.
At least as far as the issue of US residency is concerned, it seems that E*Trade is more concerned that there might be foreign rules that might restrict them from doing business with foreign residents. If you are a non-US resident, try getting a certificate from your own regulatory body (most are quite cooperative) attesting that no such rule exists in your country, and fax it to E*Trade's compliance department (650 331 6806)
> 've heard many things (nothing official yet) that all the major outstanding issues will be resolved on monday.
Does this mean that issue about the eligibility of non-US residents will be resolved too? That'd be great!
If you are a foreign resident; they are concerned that your country might have a regulation that may prevent them to sollicit business there. However, most countries actually have no such rule, it's just a cover-your-ass measure. If you are a foreign resident, you might want to try to get a statement attesting that there is no such law from the regulatory body of your own country, and fax it to Henri Carter, Vice President of the Compliance Department of E*Trade Securities Inc. at 650 331 6806
Well, it that doesn't help, take the plane to the US, and submit a change of address: You become a resident the day you arrive there. And if you spent all your money on your E*Trade account for the IPO, with nothing left for the plane ticket, you may also skip the bit about the plane.
Good luck.
Strange. The response I got was "Sorry, this is confidential information". They even considered the number of shares as confidential, even though it is displayed at several places on the Web.
One thing that I fail to understand about these so-called SEC rules is why do you have to be eligible if you want to get the shares at IPO price, whereas no eligibility test is done for normal purchases after the IPO. So, you are allowed to buy RHAT when it starts being publically traded on the stock market. However, the opening price is usually higher than the offering price, and usually the price sharply drops during the first day or week, but rarely falls below the offering.
Example: Suppose Red Hat gets priced at $15, opens at $60, and then levels off to $20 over the course of the first week of trading. Those who bought 100 shares at the IPO price will have won $500. However, those who got bounced and who tried there luck by buying at opening (assuming they were that naive) would have lost $4000. So where is the logic in this silly restriction? It seems to be that the restriction is actually pushing investors towards a trade with more risk, not less.
Bzzzt. No such SEC rule. If you don't believe me, call Jack Hardy at the SEC (202 942 7040).
According to Christopher Boyce of E*Trade's Compliance Department, the issue is slightly different: If you are a foreign resident; they are concerned that your country might have a regulation that may prevent them to sollicit business there. However, most countries actually have no such rule, it's just a cover-your-ass measure. If you are a foreign resident, you might want to try to get a statement attesting that there is no such law from the regulatory body of your own country, and fax it to Henri Carter, Vice President of the Compliance Department of E*Trade Securities Inc. at 650 331 6806
Good luck.
And for the record: yes, SES did tank a week after its emission, in a way. And yes, many investors were angry about this, but nobody was silly enough to sue his bank. Everybody assumed his responsibility, like a man. End of story.