How does the investor go about weighing up the investment options offered by the newly quoted companies on the market. Obviously professional advice is required for any significant investments, particularly as the risk to reward balance of, say, investing in traditional stocks such as one of the big banks will differ greatly from putting money into Iona Technologies or Ryanair.

The big broking firms are turning their minds to researching the new arrivals. Among the recent publications are two from NCB. The brokers gave a strong recommendation to Ryanair in a document published in advance of this week's excellent results from the airline.

NCB reassured investors in the airline that despite any threat from British Airway's potential entry into the low-cost market, the outlook for Ryanair was strong.

NCB also gave Northern Ireland pharmaceutical company Galen a `buy' recommendation. It says that the shares looked reasonably valued in terms of 1988-89 profit projections - the brokers expect pre-tax profits of £11.1 million this year and £14.4 million next year. But it adds that investors should also look at the "huge potential" within Galen's pipeline of drug delivery-based profits, which make the shares worth holding.