Last week, we took a look at the horses, the last 100 IPOs to come to market. This week, it is the jockeys’ turn.

The last 100 IPOs that came to market carries us all the way back to Dec. 14, 2001. As of Friday, July 25, 2003, 70 IPOs closed above their initial offering prices. Twenty-nine finished below their offering prices. One IPO closed unchanged. The average gain was up 32.2 percent each. Over those same 19 months, the Nasdaq Composite lost 11.4 percent.

The Nasdaq closed at 1,953.17 on Dec. 14, 2001, the offering dates of the two oldest deals on the list of the last 100 IPOs. The Nasdaq closed Friday, July 25, 2003, at 1,730.70.

During the 1990s, investment bankers priced 5,681 IPOs, according to “The IPO Aftermarket,” a now defunct weekly newsletter. That averaged out to about 47 IPOs each month. But the Nasdaq Composite was reaching for its all-time closing high of 5,048.62 set on March 10, 2000.

Since March 2000, the Nasdaq has taken a nosedive. By October 2002, it had lost 77.9 percent of its value. The issuance of IPOs dried up and the number of investment bankers underwriting them shriveled. Over the 18 months, 35 investment bankers acted as book runners in bringing these 100 companies public. But that is not as impressive as it sounds. Twenty-one bankers (book runners) priced just one offering each, according to available records.

Three bankers priced two offerings each. Three bankers priced three offerings each. Two bankers priced five offerings each. And that leaves five bankers, acting as the book runner, who priced 40 IPOs.

Scorecard of the Wall Street jockeys:

Number: 1
Morgan Stanley was book runner for 10 IPOs. As of July 25, 2003, eight new issues closed above their initial offering prices and two were losers. The average gain per IPO was up 51.7 percent each.

Note: The last 100 IPOs scored an average gain of 32.2 percent each.

The Big Winner: JetBlue Airways (JBLU: chart) closed Friday at $45.33 a share, up 151.8 percent from its offering price of $18 a share (adjusted for a 3-for-2 stock split).

The Big Loser: MedSource Technologies (MEDT: chart), closed Friday at $3.90 a share, down 67.5 percent from its offering price of $18 a share

Number: 2
Merrill Lynch was book runner for eight IPOs. As of July 25, 2003, seven closed above their initial offering prices and one was a loser. The average gain per IPO was up 48 percent each.

The Big Winner: Dicks Sporting Goods (DKS: chart) closed Friday at $38.20 a share, up 218.3 percent from its offering price of $12 a share.

The Loser: Liquidmetal Technologies (LQMT: chart), closed Friday at $5.68 a share, down 62.1 percent from its offering price of $15 a share.

Number: 3
Credit Suisse First Boston was book runner for 13 IPOs (the most by any single book runner). As of July 25, 2003, 10 closed above their initial offering prices and three were losers. The average gain per IPO was up 38 percent each.

The Big Winner: Eon Labs (ELAB: chart) closed Friday at $38.20 a share, up 154.7 percent from its offering price of $15 a share.

The Big Loser: Integrated Defense Technologies (IDE: chart), closed Friday at $16.18 a share, down 26.5 percent from its offering price of $22 a share.

Last week, we looked at the horses. This week, we looked at the jockeys. By and large, all did a good job. It was not an investor-friendly stock market for launching IPOs.