What's going on?

Data out over the weekend showed that companies are hesitant about going public right now, with stock market conditions seriously touch-and-go.

What does this mean?

It’s no secret that companies prefer a stable, robust stock market when they�re floating their shares for the first time. After all, higher investor confidence typically leads to higher valuations, and it also makes it easier to sell shares at a premium. But lately stability has been in pretty short supply, what with the widespread recession fears and ongoing turmoil in the banking sector � and one tell-tale volatility measure has been riding high for much of March. No wonder, then, that businesses are holding off on going public: according to data from Bloomberg, firms have raised a mere $19.7 billion from initial public offerings (IPOs) so far this year � a four-year low-water mark and a 70% dropoff from the same time last year.

Why should I care?

For markets: Second to none.
Despite the gloomy IPO landscape, secondary offerings � the sale of shares by companies that are already listed � appear to be a bright spot, raking in 48% more than the same time last year. That could be down to companies capitalizing on the early-year rally � plus, investors are more likely to place a bet on familiar, established firms anyway. But markets as a whole still have a long way to go, and some analysts think they�ll only regain their luster once folks have an idea where interest rates are headed.

Zooming out: Call to ARMs.
SoftBank will be watching markets very closely indeed and hoping for a turnaround. The tech investor�s planning to list chip-designing firm ARM on the stock market later this year, and it�s already making some canny preparations: last week the company announced that it�s upping the price of its chip designs, used in over 95% of smartphones � which should boost profit and tempt some hard-nosed investors when it does pull the trigger.