Today's FT leads with a story about the planned IPO of Google. While it is heartening to hear that this might be the awakening of a rather moribund technology market, the really interesting part is the share allocation mechanism: apparently, an online auction format is under consideration. This would remove the need for an investment bank to underwrite the offering, and could break one of the last pricing cartels left on Wall Street. The 7 percent IPO underwriting fee has been in existence for decades, and this may be the event that could break it up for good.
Nothing like the breakup of a good, old-fashioned cartel. Good luck, Google!
6:16:18 PM 
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