The $12 Trillion Stock Squeeze Gives Way to IPO Market Boom

For the better part of two decades, a defining feature of the US stock market has been scarcity. Year after year, shares disappeared from public hands, with buybacks by S&P 500 companies alone erasing nearly $12 trillion worth.

Now, investors are about to discover what happens when the supply suddenly comes rushing back.

According to JPMorgan Chase & Co., IPOs, secondary offerings and other share sales are poised to add roughly $1.5 trillion of stock to the US equity market over the next two years, even after accounting for buybacks. If realized, it would mark the strongest period of net ...