Per question, which brokerage firm is selling snap iPo shares? I want to buy some.
when is the IPO day?
my understanding is that you need connections to get in on an IPO. it's not available to the general public.
I was under the impression that's what makes it a public offering
That's not how it works, institutional investors get first shot.
You have to be in business with an underwriting broker (Morgan Stanley, Goldman,etc.- they're all listed on the S1) to buy directly from the IPO. Even then, for in-demand IPOs the firms generally have much more interest than actual stock to sell- so basically you get ranked by your relationship ($) to the firm; your broker also gets ranked based on how much business he brings to the firm; then the bank divvies up shares per broker/client. So for big IPOs where everyone wants some you might ask for 10,000 shares but only be allocated 100 or something. That being said the moment they start trading people are going to be buying and selling on the market; at which point anyone can buy (whether you're a investment bank client or you're using Schwab/Robinhood/fidelity/whatever) but you're generally going to be buying at +/- the initial offering price depending on how the market reacts to the IPO/values the now public stock.
If you have to ask you probably do not have the ability to buy, institutional investors will buy about 70% and top (rich) clients at the underwriters will buy the rest. You can buy once it hits the market but better to wait a couple months for the price to bottom out before buying if you believe in the long term future of snap.
Do you need to buy on IPO day?
Yes on IPO day