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From Briefing.com"CREATIVE COMPUTERS INC (MALL). 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. " |
