Webvan Group Inc

Shares of Internet retailer Buy.com Inc., which had a surprisingly strong debut last week, have given back in the last two trading sessions most of the gains made when the company went public. After a 19% drop Friday, the Aliso Viejo company's stock fell 21% Monday, or $4.44 a share, to close at $16.94. The shares had traded as high as $35 last Tuesday, its first day on Nasdaq.

Priceline.com Inc., an Internet site where consumers can bid on plane tickets, groceries and other goods, said Wednesday that it hired Heidi Miller, chief financial officer of Citigroup, the nation's largest financial services company, as its new CFO. In quitting Citigroup, Miller, 46, is a leaving a company with 174,000 employees and a $170 billion market value for a 2-year-old business with 177 workers and a value of $7.6 billion.

Siebel Systems Inc. ousted J. Michael Lawrie as its chief executive on Wednesday, coming off a disappointing quarter that raised questions about his ability to turn around the business software maker. Lawrie resigned at the request of Siebel Systems' board, which concluded he hadn't made adequate progress since becoming chief executive last May, said Tom Siebel, chairman and founder of the San Mateo, Calif.-based company.

It used to be that all a landlord would require from a prospective tenant was a security deposit and first and last month's rent. Now, a small but growing number of Southern California commercial landlords are asking some tenants to cough up one more item: stock. The soaring values of high-technology shares and splashy Internet stock offerings find some Los Angeles building owners acting like Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

GTE Corp., which is set to be acquired by Bell Atlantic Corp., said its fourth-quarter profit rose 12% to $961 million, or 98 cents a share, as strong sales of data and wireless services pushed revenue up 13% to $6.74 billion. Meanwhile, GTE and Bell Atlantic proposed, as expected, to spin off most of GTE's Internet business to gain regulatory approval for their merger, which would create the nation's largest local phone company with combined revenue of more than $58 billion.

Like Dan Quayle, the Anaheim Angels and lottery players, entrepreneur Dan Frahm faces daunting odds. His Aliso Viejo-based Whyrunout.com, a year-old online grocer, has lost $500,000 and there's no hefty cash infusion in sight. He'll also be facing stiff competition in Orange County, a market that Whyrunout had to itself until recently. One competitor has moved into the territory and two others have their sights set on Orange County. All have deeper pockets than Frahm's business.

Gateway Inc. Thursday posted earnings slightly above Wall Street expectations, citing strong sales of its personal computers, PC-related products and services. The San Diego-based company, the No. 1 direct seller of computers, said earnings grew 26% to $122 million, or 37 cents a share, from $89.2 million, or 28 cents, a year ago. The results beat the Wall Street consensus by a penny, according to First Call/Thomson Financial. Revenue grew 12% to $2.14 billion. Gross margins were a record 23.

Lockheed Martin Corp. on Thursday reported sharply lower fourth-quarter profit, but it still exceeded Wall Street forecasts as sales at its systems integration, space systems and aeronautics businesses increased. Lockheed, the world's largest defense contractor and maker of the F-16 fighter, also raised its growth estimate for 2001 earnings, targeting 25% to 30% improvement from 2000 levels, up from an earlier estimate of 20%.

Media Metrix Inc. agreed Tuesday to buy Jupiter Communications Inc. for about $342 million in stock, creating one-stop shopping for those who need to know how many people are using the Internet and how the Web is changing the way consumers and businesses interact. The two companies, neither of which is profitable, are among the leaders in their respective fields. Media Metrix sells Internet usage data to advertising agencies, media companies and Internet competitors.

The supermarket and transit strikes are giving online grocers a boost. They know it can't last, but they're not complaining. "We're seeing a huge pickup," said Dan Frahm, president of WhyRunOut.com, which delivers for Stater Bros. Markets. The simultaneous strikes are a "double whammy," he said, and for a lot of people in the Los Angeles area, "home delivery makes sense." Frahm said WhyRunOut's business has jumped more than 30% since Oct. 11, when workers at Safeway Inc.'