IPO Mania!

December 17, 2003
Brice Wightman

Stocks were mixed Wednesday, with
tech stocks continuing to lag. In
the biggest IPO of the year, China Life Insurance (LFC) traded up
27% from its $18.68 offering price, closing at 23.72. Analysts are upbeat about
the company’s prospects, as the company has a 45%
market share of the life insurance market in China and only 1.5% of China’s 1.2
billion population has life insurance; plus, China’s economy is growing at an 8%
annual rate. Travel site Orbitz’s (ORBZ)
IPO was priced at $26, above the $22-$24 range; the stock opened at $30 and
closed down 4% at 24.98, breaking its $26 offering price. CEO Jeffery Katz has a
controversial pay package that would allow him a one-time cash payout that
increases even as ORBZ shares decline. Universal Technical Institute (UTI) traded well above its $20.50 offering price. The company provides technical education training in automotive, collision repair and refinishing.
Falcon (FLCN) was priced at $9.00 at the low end of the range, and closed
at $9.05.Experts say to keep an eye out for future IPOs in financial services,
banks and biotech; one name in particular to watch for is internet search engine
Google.

The
dollar traded down to another record low vs. the euro, and oil hit
post-war highs, as cold weather continues to shrink supplies. Oil stocks were
all strong, including Conoco Phillips, Chevron Texaco, and Unocal.

Motorola
(
MOT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) filed for a $2 billion IPO for its Texas-based
chip unit, SPS Spinco. Bear Stearns
(
BSC |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported higher revenues
that rose 36% to $1.53 billion, with net income jumping 51% to $288.3 million on
improved segments in its fixed-income, mortgage, credit and interest-rate
product areas. Competitor Lehman Brothers
(
LEH |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) also experienced
strong earnings with fourth-quarter net income rising to $481 million and
revenue up by 49%, to $2.3 billion.

Dow	+15.70	10145.26
S&P 500	+1.35	1076.48
Nasdaq	-2.96	1921.33

No Economic news releases.

The dollar
was -0.40 at 87.91.

Gold was +2.70 at
411.55.

Crude Oil was +0.40 at
33.39

Volume was
1,406,666,000 on
the NYSE, and 1,495,163,000 on the Nasdaq.

Market breadth was mixed.

NYSE	Issues
Advancing	1924	Up Vol 752
Declining	1302	Down Vol 598
Ratio	1.47	1.25
Nasdaq
Advancing	1426	Up Vol 563
Declining	1746	Down Vol 913
Ratio	1.22	1.62

Stocks in the news:

Courier Fedex
(
FDX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reported net
income of $91 million, a 63% drop from the previous year, citing higher
severance and early retirement costs. Revenue was up 4.5% to $5.92. The
company’s ground delivery division rose 8.1% while the express segment rose
3.7%.

Boeing’s
(
BA |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) executives gave the
go-ahead for its new 7E7 jet today; the first new plane in more than a decade.
The 7E7 is expected to replace its older 757 and 767 planes and expected to
deliver in 2008.

E-Trade
(
ET |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) reaffirmed its 2003
earnings forecast today despite a decline in its mortgage division. If business
remains at current levels, the company expects 2004 net income at 70 to 85 cents
per share, on expected revenue of $1.5 billion. The company also upped its 2003
net income to 50 cents a share.

On Thursday, Microsoft will be holding a
news conference will NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, and remember Friday is
quadruple witching.

Brice

bricew@tradingmarkets.com

IPO Mania!

BUY THE FEAR, SELL THE GREED

Quick Links

Company Info

Contact

Company Resources