Visa and Mastercard

okay, tomorrow Visa prices their ipo. I know a lot of people are excited about IPO's but I would give a word of caution here. The pricing of Visa at $37-$42/share, if it remains that low, will purposefully leave a lot of money on the table (they want a nice pop so it will "look" like a solid performer). I'm fairly certain that V will price higher, maybe around $48/share. I'm also fairly certain that it will be difficult to make any money on Visa because it will most likely open up at a premium price (maybe around 20-25%?). Now in regards to MA, it's very important to note that their valuations are going to be linked. If V does not do well, or prices low, it's very bad for MA. At the proposed IPO price of $39.50/share (between 37-42), Visa is valued almost equivalent to MA in terms of market cap. We all know Visa has much higher transaction volume and is the bigger company. This would imply that MA is overvalued and we could see a big drop in MA. Whatever happens, be careful. I personally don't recommend getting into hyped up situations. Yes, wednesday morning might be exciting, but more often than not, reality and valuations come into play and pour water on the fire. My theory was that MA would continue to be strong leading up to the Visa IPO. Essentially, it has sustained the downside we've seen in most of the financial names. At this point, now that the IPO is upon us, it's a good idea to "wait and see". Also remember that the markets in general remain in turmoil, so all the more reason for caution. I'll continue to post updated opinions, especially after the IPO prices tomorrow (the price is very important here).