With the dismal start to the year we might as well just close the IPO markets. Last week we were supposed to wake things up with over $1 billion in new issues only to raise $145 million from two small biotech's. We should mention that both of those biotech names closed below their issue price, losing an average of 17%. The general public has been largely absent this year as all four biotech IPO's so far have been bolstered mostly by insiders.With the market a mess and volatility soaring its easy to place blame elsewhere. It is a shortened week this week and not one company is on the books. The two names that have been listed "day-by-day" have officially been taken off the list. California Construction company Shimmick Construction (SCCI  ) and Norway-based Nordic Realty Trust (NORT  ) officially postponed their IPO's last week.

We had a good push of initial filings from biotech's through mid-January, but the activity has slowed in the past three weeks. US Foods Holdings (USFD  ), which is the 10th-largest private company in the US based on revenue, filed for an IPO that analysts estimate could raise $1 billion or more. Just for fun we looked up the last $1 billion IPO. It was First Data (FDC  ), and is down 41% from its offer price!

At this point that is all that's out there. Again, its easy for analysts and gurus to throw their hands in the air and claim that the IPO market is broken but I say, ask yourself... Would you take a company public in this market environment?