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Technology Stocks : FreeMarkets Inc-(FMKT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rupert who wrote (18)	11/24/1999 9:19:00 PM
From: BULL_DOG	Respond to of 414

FMKT available through Wit...IPO alert mailed at 9:20 am PST.

To: Rupert who wrote (18)	11/27/1999 2:44:00 AM
From: Herschel Rubin	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 414

Trade date of Dec 10th is unusual for an IPO because that falls on a Friday. FMKT looks intriguing to me also. Initially, it sounded like an all-internet company, but upon further DD, it became apparent that their supplier-screening process is very labor intensive, so their business model is unfortunately not as automated as an E-bay, for example. The one aspect I like is they are essentially establishing a new form of a commodity market: Up to now, we have had commodity markets (and futures markets derived therefrom) for raw materials such as Oil, Coffee, Sugar, Pork Bellies, etc... Now, with the internet, there is NO REASON why manufactured parts cannot have a virtual auction-style marketplace on the internet. Just as we have market makers for stocks, options, and futures, the virtual parts marketplace also needs market makers of a slightly different sort, but nonetheless they're market makers. Upon scanning the Freemarkets web page, they are, in fact, offering positions labeled as "Market Makers." Pretty cool.