Do Investors Get A Table-Dance?

After six months of review, the Nasdaq Stock Market has approved the trading of a Houston topless club, paving the way for Rick’s Cabaret International to become the first publicly traded topless-bar stock.

Early this year, Rick’s registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell $4.9 million in shares to the public but couldn’t go forward until it obtained the approval of stock market officials.

While saying they did not have a moral clause, Nasdaq officials reserved the right to reject offerings that don’t elicit “public confidence in the market.”

But after two Nasdaq committees reviewed Rick’s application, officials concluded “there was no legal or regulatory basis to exclude the company,” Nasdaq spokesman Jim Spellman said Tuesday.

In its prospectus, Rick’s, known for its well-endowed female dancers, said its revenues of $4.57 million last year remained flat because of increased competition and increased taxes on high-revenue customers.