Dog And Pony Show

  

In ye olden days (okay, not that old, but still), dog and pony shows literally had dogs and ponies, probably doing tricks and having petting zoo moments. The name stuck, but the dogs and ponies changed to financial securities, up for sale no doubt.

Dog and pony shows can have a wider meaning, referring in general to road shows that showcase products and have presentations...like a big "hey, you need to buy this!" conference. In the financial sector, a dog and pony show refers mostly to companies ripe with an IPO, a.k.a. an initial public offering.

If you don’t know what an IPO is, it’s okay, we’ve all been there at one point or another. The TL;DR of an IPO is that it’s when a private company is offering shares (investment opportunity instruments) to the public for the first time. This gives the company more money they need to grow (and some flashy PR with executives strutting their stuff), and gives investors a chance to get in early on an up-and-coming company. A dog and pony show can make or break a company’s success in getting investors on board long after it’s over.

Road shows (in the finance sector) are also a great way for financial people to mingle, mingle, mingle. Think: brokers, investors, analysts, and even fund managers.

Related or Semi-related Video

Finance: What is a primary offering, and...29 Views

00:00

finance a la shmoop what is a primary offering and what are primary shares all

00:09

right people let's start with the primary offering it's pretty much just

00:13

an IPO or initial public offering of stock that's primary and hello 1933 Act [The 1933 securites act is slid onto a desk]

00:19

that's what gave rise to all the regulations around primary offerings its

00:23

original shares virgin ones in fact now being offered for the first time to an [Someone holding 'extra virgin stock']

00:29

investor public primary offering that's what it is

00:31

but primary shares also come from private companies like a venture capital [Sign for a venture capital company]

00:36

company might buy primary shares in a b round from whatever.com as that company

00:42

funds its growth now once a company is already public its shares will have

00:46

traded back and forth in many different hands over time those would be called [Secondary shares stamp]

00:51

secondary shares and hello 1934 Act which set the regs all around

00:56

secondaries so yeah primary 1933 secondary 1934 and well that's pretty

01:01

much it as long as you can count to two this one's a pretty easy concept to

01:05

would wrap your head around.. primarily.. [Woman looks confused]

Up Next

Finance: What is a road show?
4 Views

What is a road show? In order to generate excitement about a new product, companies often resort to social media as well as the more conventional t...

Finance: What is an Interstate Offering?
0 Views

An interstate offering refers to a company offering of stocks or securities sold in more than one state. Unfortunately, that doesn't apply to diffe...

Finance: What is a Rights Offering?
6 Views

Rights offerings are essentially hostile takeover defenses. Unfortunately, they're not as cool as swords and shields.

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)