Spinning

[Baker, John]

        "Spinning," the practice of giving client company executives access to hot initial public offerings in exchange for their business, has been much in the news lately.  Probably this highly questionable practice has been around to some degree as long as there have been hot IPOs, but the term seems to go back only to 1997 or so.  From an article in the Wall Street Journal, Nov. 12, 1997:

        >>Such is the world of Wall Street's "spin desks."  Many investment banks silently allocate chunks of hot new stocks to the personal brokerage accounts they hold for corporate executives and venture capitalists - "spinning," or flipping, the shares on the day of the IPO for quick profits - in an apparent bid for business from the executives' firms.<<


John Baker