From Scott Cutler: Secondary offerings by publicly listed companies have raised over $176 billion on the NYSE so far this year, proving that there is plenty of cash on the sidelines that wants to be put to work. This healthy appetite has also created the most vibrant IPO market in the last two years. So far, $7 billion has been raised on the NYSE through initial public offerings (and another $1.5 billion on Nasdaq), with six companies debuting last week, another nine expected over the next two weeks and the pipeline for the next three quarters as strong as we’ve seen it in at least a couple of years.

As different as this feels from last year at this time, it is by no means a walk in the park for companies looking to go public. Every new listing is being watched carefully by investors for solid fundamentals, in-line pricing and good execution by the company. In 2007, two thirds of all IPOs missed on earnings expectations during their second quarter after coming to market. After all investors have been through in the last two years, that is not something they are willing to forget. New companies are expected to have solid track records, consistent growth year over year and to be a part of growing industries. For those types of companies, the capital markets are open.

We congratulate all of the companies that recently debuted as public companies on the NYSE successfully (SEM, ART, EM, ARI, CLNY, CXS, STWD) and look forward to welcoming many more over the next weeks, including one that could end up the world’s largest IPO of 2009.