IPO University

Order Book

When the underwriter refers to how well orders are building for an IPO or a secondary deal, he means the order book or listing of buy orders from investors. The book for a deal can be many times oversubscribed. In fact, an oversubscribed deal is desired by both underwriters and investors, because it means that there will be an initial pop in the stock when it begins trading and subsequent aftermarket orders. Also referred to as "the book".