Briefing.com on MALL..
13:00 ET ******
"CREATIVE COMPUTERS INC (MALL) 17 13/32 +4 1/32.
Speculators are betting that this computer products direct marketer will
strike while the iron is hot by expediting the IPO of its wholly-owned
subsidiary, uBid. Creative Computer shares have rallied as much as
53% on an intraday basis, on 31 times average daily volume. uBid
operates an online auction for excess merchandise, offering close-out and
refurbished products to consumers and small to medium-sized businesses.
Creative Computers announced plans in July to spin-off uBid. The initial
range on the Merrill Lynch-led offering is $12 to $14 a share. Of course,
if MALL is able to rush this deal to market while Internet stocks are still
hot... At the conclusion of the offering, Creative will own
approximately 80% of uBid's capital stock. The company has
announced its intention, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions, to
distribute its stake in uBid to shareholders in 1999 by means of a tax-free
distribution. But before you go out and load up on MALL shares, let's
take a stroll down memory lane to Winfield Capital (WCAP 4 3/8 +1
1/4). This stock raced from under $2 a share to just over $13 on
anticipation of a strong debut by online computer hardware and software
retailer Cyberian Outpost (COOL 17 +1 3/4), in which WCAP held 1.7
million shares. Indeed, COOL opened strongly. After pricing at $18 (well
above the initial $13 to $15 range), the stock opened in the mid-$20s.
But as soon as the first trade hit the market, Winfield Capital investors
had a "sell the news" reaction. Within minutes, WCAP shares had fallen
to below $8 and finished the session at $6 5/16, 52% below their
intraday high and 29% below the previous day's closing price. "
DD |
