Personal Finance and Investing

If the company is going public then they are looking for a big cash infusion. The stock will have an "offering price" - that price which the underwriters and everyone else involved in the offering THINK will be a reasonable price at the outset of trading. Sometimes it is high and sometimes it is low. Look back at the opening weeks of FaceBook - the stock jumped initially then fell off a cliff (much to the delight of many a DU naysayer) but it has steadily, over time, climbed back out of that and now trades considerably higher than it's offering.

I agree with Common Sense party in that you should be very careful as to how much you put in and if there is pressure to buy more than you are comfortable with, be VERY wary.

Google "Dollar Cost Averaging". Take on small chunks as you can afford it over time, if you do indeed decide to take a stake and you are confident in the company's potential for future profits.

It is not always a bad thing, by no means, but it is not always a good thing either.