At this time last year, the Nasdaq was the happening place for a new company to come out. The exchange greeted 22 initial public offerings in January and February 2007, while the NYSE and Amex both saw new entrants in the single digits.

This year, the picture looks totally different. Only five IPOs have appeared on the Nasdaq, compared to four on the NYSE and 10 on Amex. The reason for the Amex's dominance is simple: special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs.
SPACs are shell companies that come public to raise money in order to buy another company. They started popping up on bulletin boards in 2003, and the Amex started taking them in 2005. Now, they've turned into big business. Last year, they consumed 25% of the IPO market, according to Renaissance Capital.
Rule change
The Nasdaq isn't taking this lying down. On Feb. 21, it said it was proposing a rule change to the Securities and Exchange Commission so that it can list SPACs on its own board. Although it's a timely move given the bear market, Senior Vice President Bob McCooey says he's been promoting the idea since he took over as head of Nasdaq's new listings in July.
""Clearly the most compelling thing (about SPACs) is the amount of dollars, and the number of new listings,"" he said. ""Over the past few years it's become a more commonplace way for management to raise money and do deals.""
(Source: Investor’s Business Daily)