Lycos Inc

Lycos Inc. and Netscape Communications Corp. on Tuesday announced separate deals designed to improve their competitive positions in the Internet portal business. Lycos acquired WhoWhere Inc., which provides a Web white pages, free e-mail and Web site hosting, for $133 million in stock. Meanwhile, competitor Netscape announced a three-year deal in which Citibank will become the primary personal finance provider on its Netcenter Web portal.

First comes the surge, then the frenzy, followed by the mania. But what comes after that? In the world of Internet-related stocks, maybe we're finding out. That stock sector continued its upward spiral on Monday, with many of the shares catapulting dramatically higher despite little real news. Yahoo Inc., the popular Internet directory company, zoomed $26.38 to a record $199.25, for a 15% one-day advance.

Continuing a buying spree that has created one of the Web's most popular constellations of sites, Lycos Inc. announced Tuesday that it will acquire Wired Digital Inc. for $83 million in stock. Wired magazine, the pioneering print publication about online cultural politics and consumption that spawned San Francisco-based Wired Digital, was previously sold to New York publishing giant Conde Nast.

Four of the Internet's leading companies were involved in two separate deals Monday that underscore the intense jostling and ongoing scramble for allies among online firms. The larger of the deals involved Netscape Communications Corp., which said it will collect at least $70 million through a partnership with Excite Inc. in which the companies will combine to create a new search service and other content on Netscape's flagship Web site. The second deal pairs AT&T Corp. and Lycos Inc.