To: Vitalsigns who wrote (2817 ) 6/29/1999 4:41:00 PM From: Link Lady Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 3896
Intersting article.Wonder whose technology they use. Has anyone taken the time to see who/what the competition is for e-FINCOM.com? By the way notice who finances E-Loan. Is it a coincidence?canoe.com E-Loan stock price nearly triples in market debut More E-commerce Stories More Technology News NEW YORK, June 29 (Reuters) - Fears of an interest rate hike did not keep investors away from online mortgage provider E-Loan Inc., which nearly tripled in price in its stock market debut on Tuesday. E-Loan shares, brought to market at $14, initially jumped to $21 and later were up nearly 200 percent. They stood at $36.50 in early-afternoon trading. Higher interest rates usually pressure mortgage firms, and Federal Reserve policy-makers are expected to raise rates at a meeting that began today. Also, U.S. data released this morning showed new home sales declined in May. But E-Loan showed no ill-effects. The Dublin, Calif.-based company raised $49 million in its initial public offering (IPO), which was led by Goldman Sachs. The shares priced at the top of the expected range of $12-$14. "It was a bit surprising, especially with (new) homes sales down today, but it is the first mover in this territory and the first in this area to go public," said Linda Killian, a portfolio manager at Renaissance Capital Corp.'s IPO Plus Aftermarket Fund. (IPOSX-O) . "I think the online mortgage market is going to be the wave of the future," she added. Analysts said E-Loan also benefited from having Goldman Sachs as a lead underwriter. The IPO was postponed earlier this month, and the expected price range was subsequently cut to $9-$11 a share from $11-$13. E-Loan said in its prospectus that it offers origination cost savings of more than 50 percent compared with traditional mortgage brokers or single-source lenders. Its competitors include traditional mortgage brokers and companies such as Priceline.com PCLN-O, which is making an aggressive push into the arena, Killian said. The company gets its financing from General Electric Co.'s (GE-N) GE Capital unit. It also has agreements with Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO-O) and has alliances with DLJdirect (DIR-N) and E*Trade Group Inc. (EGRP-O) .