Cyber Stocks Show Their Magic With Ipos

In the single biggest day for initial public offerings so far this year, seven companies began trading for the first time Thursday - and several of them zipped far ahead in their debut.

The biggest gains came from the three heavy-hitting offerings tied to the Internet: Healtheon, an Internet-based health care administrator set up by Netscape co-founder Jim Clark, soared $23.38 to $31.37; Prodigy Communications, the 15-year-old Internet service provider, jumped $13.12 to $28.12; and VerticalNet, a business-to-business Web company, rose $29.38 to $45.37.

That performance demonstrated investors’ still insatiable appetite for all things cyber-related - as well as how lucrative IPOs can be for those who get in at the offering price.

“The urge to speculate shows up most dramatically in the IPO market,” said Hugh Johnson, chief investment strategist at First Albany.

“When you see a stock issued at $17 that begins trading at $100, and it’s got dot-com in its name, that’s a very clear example of the urge to speculate.”

Despite an enormous drumbeat prior to his offering, however, the well-known fund manager Mario Gabelli’s IPO of his Gabelli Asset Management barely got off the ground, rising just 31 cents to $17.81.

And Korn/Ferry International, the world’s largest recruiter, proved one of the day’s few bleak spots, closing down $1 at $13.

On Friday, their second day of trading, all of the IPOs but Prodigy lost ground. Healtheon fell $4.15 to $27.75, VerticalNet lost $1.50 to $35.87, Gabelli dipped 31 cents to $17.50 and Korn/Ferry fell $1.75 to $11.25. Prodigy surged $7.32 to $35.44.

All told this week, at least a dozen companies were expected to fetch roughly $1.5 billion in initial public offerings, according to Securities Data.

In terms of the number of deals, it is the strongest week for IPOs since July 31, when 19 companies sold shares to the public.

Analysts said the volume showed how much the IPO market had recovered from last fall, when many companies pulled or postponed their deals due to market turbulence.

Particularly surprising Thursday was Prodigy’s strength: The company once backed by Sears and IBM was the single most active stock on the Nasdaq, with nearly 25.8 million shares trading hands.

Utility consumers to be represented by ffitch

Simon ffitch has been appointed head of the Attorney General Office’s Public Counsel Section, which represents utility consumers.

A member of the section’s staff for two years, ffitch (who does not capitalize his last name) replaces Rob Manifold, who had held the position since 1993.

In a prepared statement, ffitch noted that the telecommunications and energy businesses are undergoing major transformations.

“These industries reach into virtually every home and business, and decisions by state and federal regulators, legislators and other policy makers will determine whether this tide of change will yield benefits for Washington citizens,” he said.

Attorney General Christine Gregoire, in announcing the nomination, noted ffitch’s 10-year history in utility regulation.

He’ll need that experience as utilities are deregulated, she said.

His background includes stints in both Washington and Oregon, where he was a senior administrative law judge for the Oregon Public Utility Commission.

He also worked with Oregon Legal Services and volunteered with the Oregon Citizens Utility Board.

Amateur’s luck? Perhaps

Few professional money managers have beaten the market lately, but America’s amateurs have.

For the five years ended Dec. 31, the National Association of Investors Corp.’s Top 100 Index returned 26 percent vs. 21 percent for the S&P 500. The index comprises the leading stockholdings of America’s investment clubs, gathered from an annual survey. It is weighted by popularity among the clubs and market-cap.

Leading the index, in order: AFLAC Inc. (symbol: AFL), insurance; Merck & Co., Inc.(MRK), drugs; Intel Corp. (INTC), semiconductors; Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), software; General Electric Co. (GE), diversified; Coca-Cola Co. (KO) and PepsiCo (PEP), soft drinks; McDonald’s Inc. (MCD), fast food; Motorola Inc. (MOT), technology; and Abbot Laboratories (ABT), drugs.

Booklet explains retirement plans

Interested in opening a retirement account for your small business? The IRS has a booklet that explains the types of plans, how they work, and how they may benefit you.

These include the Simplified Employee Pension plan (SEP), the Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE plan) and the Keogh plan.

It’s called IRS Publication 560, “Retirement Plans for Small Business.” For a free copy, follow the steps above for ordering Publication 970.