Intrepid Potash makes public debut

Wall Street looked favorably on the opening day of trading for Denver's newest public company, Intrepid Potash Inc.

The fertilizer maker went public at $32 a share -- after last week raising its expected IPO price to $29 a share -- and closed at $50.40, or up $18.40. The stock continued to rise in after-hours trading.

Intrepid Mining LLC of Australia is the parent of Intrepid Potash and is the largest producer of potash in the United States. The company intends to use a portion of the IPO proceeds to buy the assets of Intrepid Mining.

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The price fluctuated during the day between a low of $44.44 and a high of $51.20. Volume reached nearly 42.7 million shares.