IPO

In late 2016, the world's greatest stock picker (Bill Patalon to his friends) reported on the "IPO ice age," with a noticeable dearth of profitable IPOs, especially compared with the boom years of 2013 to 2015 when, depending on the year, anywhere from 170 to 275 companies listed.

But Bill also predicted that the "ice age" would end with a ferocious warm-up, and it looks like he was, literally, on the money there.

Not only are there the four cannabis IPOs that could potentially create $12 billion in new wealth within the next few weeks (more on those here), but we're also looking at a massive year from new tech companies; the next generation of market leaders, like Uber.

That company could absolutely dwarf the $25 billion Alibaba debut, which was the richest in history... so far.

But investors - regular people who don't have $500 million in capital to throw around - have to be careful with these "market events." If we go about it the right way, "outsiders" like you and I can play them for profit, but it's worth bearing in mind that IPOs are predominantly designed for underwriters and corporate principals to cash in.