Take it back. Guess it is the cause.
NEW YORK, March 16 (Reuters) - Safeguard Scientifics Inc. (NYSE:SFE - news) rode the Internet stock rally to a new
high Tuesday, jumping 25 percent after its chairman said the venture capital firm would focus on Internet investments.
Among the companies Safeguard is ready to launch for public investment is Who? Vision Systems Inc., which develops
fingerprint-detection technology for Internet users. Safeguard last October delayed Who? Vision's initial public offering
because of market conditions.
Speaking on CNBC Tuesday morning, Safeguard Chairman and Chief Executive Pete Musser said he expected 1999 to be a better year but cautioned that
earnings are unpredictable with Internet companies because long-term growth is the goal.
''We only took one company public last year and we have five or six right now that are poised to go public,'' Musser said.
Safeguard shares were up $11.50 to $59.6875 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange, surpassing the stock's 52-week high of $51.50.
Last month Safeguard reported 1998 earnings of $110.12 million, or $3.22 per diluted share, compared with $21.5 million, or 66 cents per diluted share, in
1997.
Last week Safeguard said it would acquire an 80 percent stake in aligne Inc., a technology management consulting company founded in 1986 by Safeguard's
new president, Harry Wallaesa.
Musser told CNBC he considered Wallaesa his ''heir apparent'' but added, ''He better not expect to do it too quickly.''
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