The week that started off on a positive note ended badly, with the Nasdaq
tumbling to 3390. This is within spitting distance of the April 14th low of
3321. What caused this decline? Take your pick: Fed rate hikes, evidence of
inflation in the economy, economic uncertainty, the government release that
the U.S. trade deficit hit a record $30.2 billion in March, or that money in
the pocket is worth more than a paper promise. Investors seemed to have
psyched themselves into fear.
Then again, there is the IPO market, where investors always want to be on the
bottom floor of a new hot stock.
New Focus’ (NUFO) IPO was like those of the good
‘ol days. On Thursday, New Focus started out at $20, and ended at 51, a 155 percent
increase. It held up well with the market decline on Friday, still standing at 49.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company makes fiber amplifiers, wavelength
management equipment, and optoelectronics for telecom providers’ fiber-optic
networks. Some of their customers including Lucent Technologies, Agilent,
Alcatel, and Nortel Networks.
CS First Boston was the lead underwriter.
iBEAM Broadcasting (IBEM) network saw its $10 per
share offer go up 40 percent to 14 on Thursday. It was down to 12-1/8 on Friday.
Its network uses point-to-multipoint satellite to provide Internet content
through streaming audio and video services. Some of their customers include
NBC, Time Warner, and NetRadio.
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter was the lead underwriter.
The IPO for US Unwired (UNWR) was hardly noticed on Thursday. They opened at
$11 and closed at 11-1/16. It stayed the same on Friday.
A regional affiliate of Sprint PCS, US Unwired provides the Sprint brand
names to the nearly 10 million residents of the Gulf States region.
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette was the lead underwriter.
Maybe the ticker symbol should be NO for Nogatech (NGTC).
Its Thursday’s offering was priced at $12, and closed at 9-13/32. On Friday, it continued to
sink to 7-5/8.
Nogatech provides image processing and compression chips to original
equipment manufacturers, such as Fujitsu PC Corp., Camtel Technology, and
Sharp Electronics. These chips enable real-time transmission of video, audio
and data signals.
W.R. Hambrecht & Company was the lead underwriter.
On Friday, Dublin-based Parthus Technologies (PRTH) saw
its American Depository Shares (ADS) rise to 20-13/16, a gain of about 65 percent.
Parthus Technologies is into mobile-commerce. They develop technology and
supporting software for devices such as cell phones, handheld computers, and
MP3 players. Parthus Technologies was recently named in Red Herring Magazine’s
Top 100 listing of top private and public technology companies worldwide.
Goldman, Sachs was the lead underwriter.
Pixelworks (PXLW) raised $57.5 million on
Friday, which is nearly one-third less than it had originally planned. Its offering
of $10 went up a pixie 57/64.
Pixelworks’ technology helps electronic devices display information on
electronic systems such as PCs and TVs. Its ImageProcessor is used by such
companies as Compaq and Sony.
Salomon Smith Barney was the lead underwriter.