I am in college and new to investing. When it is reported that the individual investor can buy Fortress IPO..

..does that mean that I am able to. I don't understand what they mean my individual investor, and can someone like me even purchase IPOs? I have only a few thousand dollars to work with.

IPOs are recommended for the sophisticated and experienced investors because it involves a lot of high risk, that if you don't know anything about stockmarket investing, you could lose all your money. I think in the USA, some of IPO listings are only limited to investors who can prove that they are experienced, have high income of at least US$100,000 per year and have a networth of more than 1 million dollars.

This is because IPO companies can easily go belly up even after the IPO, if the stock market isn't enthusiastic about it, and it's stocks could easily lose value, leaving all the investors with almost none of their money/profits back from the investment. This is because the people that own preferred stock would reclaim their money before even those with ordinary stock/shares get their cash. Those with preferred stock tend to get fidibs on the owners equity before those with ordinary shares whenever a company is being liquidated. Preferred stock is usually owned by the original contributors of the company capital when it was first founded. I won't bore you with the details....

I am an experienced, private, stockmarket, technical trader. Even I wouldn't invest in an IPO.

Forget IPOs. You will find that although they have increased in price a day or 2 after the IPO, longer term (months) they have declined. That is closer to gambling than investing. Stick with good companies with a long term history of making money and increasing dividends. So in 10+ years, when you are ready to buy a house, you should have a nice amount for a down payment.

This is a great question. Most people today have online trading accounts with Ameritrade, E-Trade etc...

Most likely to buy into an IPO you will need to have a regular brokerage account established with a firm who has takes out IPOs. Merrill Lynch etc...

Most of the folks buying IPOs are rich folks who have great stock brokers who have them "in front" of the line in buying into IPOs.

There is no reason though that you couldn't open a regular account if you don't have one already and try to get on an IPO though. I would shop for a broker who is into IPOs and who would invest your money for you.

IPOs are definately a rich get richer kind of thing.

Try this approved investment opportunity. They work with loan funds, trading them on Forex.

Yes, you can buy the shares. Individual investor means you and me. You can buy the shares through the IPO. The minimum amount to be invested would be specified by the company. Based on that, you can invest.