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The Wall Street Journal's Heard on the Street column today said some financial institutions won't be taking part in Google's public stock offering. The Journal, which said Google's IPO could come as soon as Tuesday, wrote that "some institutions, such as mutual funds and hedge funds, are expressing a measure of reluctance to bid a high price for the IPO. Some figure Google will meet resistance early on that could weigh on the stock, enabling the investors to pick up shares at a cheaper price later on. Others expect Google shares to feel some pressure when executives, employees and early investors begin dumping some of their stock almost immediately after the end of an unusually brief IPO 'lockup' period," the article said. Seth Tobias of New York hedge fund Circle T Partners , told the paper: "We'll probably sit on the sidelines on this deal." Tobias "says trading of Google shares after they are first sold 'could be as confusing as the auction process' being employed for the IPO itself, potentially sending the stock lower." * The Wall Street Journal: Some Big Investors To Sit Out Google Auction (Subscription required)
As Google's IPO approaches, not all investors are up on how the Google bidding process will work, the San Jose Mercury News said today. "The clock is ticking on Google's highly anticipated IPO, but investors still aren't aware of some key parts of the process -- including the fact that if they don't get a bidder ID number soon, they probably won't be able to bid. On Tuesday, some of the 28 brokerage firms offering customers a chance to bid for Google's first public shares of stock started displaying blurbs on their Web sites, announcing their participation in the deal. But the blurbs said little else," the paper said. * San Jose Mercury News: In Dark About Google IPO (Registration required)
New Morning in New Mexico
Software giant Microsoft has settled a class action lawsuit in New Mexico that accused the company of violating state antitrust laws. Microsoft said "it will pay New Mexico consumers as much as $31.5 million to settle a class action claiming the world's largest software maker had overcharged for software," Reuters said. * Reuters: Microsoft Settles Consume Lawsuit In New Mexico * Puget Sound Business Journal: Microsoft Settles With New Mexico For $31.5 M In Vouchers
Donating to the Phish
The latest trend in Internet "phishing" scams? Fool people into thinking you're with the Kerry campaign . "Scam artists posing as fund-raisers for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry are trying to trick Internet users into sending them money, an Internet security firm said on Tuesday. The Kerry campaign said it had asked the Justice Department to investigate," Reuters said. "Two separate mass e-mail 'spam' campaigns were uncovered that ask users to contribute to Kerry's presidential bid, but direct the money to Web sites in India and Texas that are not affiliated with the campaign, said the security firm SurfControl, which makes Internet content filters."
"We expect to see a lot more of this electronic election fraud," said Susan Larson , vice president of global content at SurfControl , according to CNET's News.com. "Phishers and other scam artists are masters of leveraging timely events to exploit the unwary." * Reuters via washingtonpost.com: Online Scams Pose As Kerry Campaign Fundraisers (Registration required) * CNET's News.com: Con Artists 'Phish' For Campaign Donors
In other election news, Kerry wants voters (and President Bush ) to know that some chief executives are supporting his bid for the White House. He is releasing a list of about 200 corporate supporters, the Wall Street Journal reported today. There's some tech leaders on the list too. They include Henry Schacht , former chairman of Lucent Technologies ; Irwin Jacobs of Qualcomm and Jim Clark of Netscape , the Journal said. "Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has persuaded scores of corporate executives to go public with endorsements to prove his moderate appeal and suggest cracks in President Bush's base of business support," the article said. * The Wall Street Journal: Kerry Makes Headway In Luring Corporate Support (Subscription required)
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