Xoom Com Inc

Xoom.com Inc., a company that lures computer users to its Internet site with free services and then tries to sell them products, more than doubled in its first day of trading Wednesday. It was further evidence that investors are rushing to the shares of "e-tailers," new companies peddling goods online. Xoom.com sold 4 million shares, a 31% stake, at $14 on Tuesday, raising $56 million and valuing the company at $183 million. On Wednesday, the shares surged $20.44 to close at $34.44 on Nasdaq.

Striving for a greater share of the ever-nebulous online audience, NBC on Monday announced that it plans to merge several of its Internet properties with Xoom.com Inc., a rapidly growing but so far profitless online direct marketing company, to create a new company known as NBC Internet. In addition to Xoom.com, the new entity would encompass Snap.com, a Web search and portal site NBC owns jointly with CNet Inc.; a 10% stake of the financial news-oriented CNBC.

Striving for a greater share of the ever-nebulous online audience, NBC on Monday announced that it plans to merge several of its Internet properties with Xoom.com Inc., a rapidly growing but so far profitless online direct marketing company, to create a new company known as NBC Internet. In addition to Xoom.com, the new entity would encompass Snap.com, a Web search and portal site NBC owns jointly with CNet Inc.; a 10% stake of the financial news-oriented CNBC.

Xoom.com Inc., a company that lures computer users to its Internet site with free services and then tries to sell them products, more than doubled in its first day of trading Wednesday. It was further evidence that investors are rushing to the shares of "e-tailers," new companies peddling goods online. Xoom.com sold 4 million shares, a 31% stake, at $14 on Tuesday, raising $56 million and valuing the company at $183 million. On Wednesday, the shares surged $20.44 to close at $34.44 on Nasdaq.

Xoom.com Inc., an Internet-based direct marketing company, and Exchange Applications Inc., a business marketing software developer, completed larger-than-expected initial stock sales Tuesday--indicating both may surge when they begin trading today. Xoom.com, based in San Francisco, sold 4 million shares at $14 each. That was at the high end of the $12-$14 range set by lead underwriter Bear, Stearns & Co., which had raised the range Monday from $9-$11.

Advertisers spent $19.1 billion pitching their products in the first quarter, a 4.6% increase over last year, a survey found, as the U.S. economy remained strong and Internet companies advertised more. General Motors Corp. was the leading advertiser, spending $622.7 million, a 16.4% increase, Competitive Media Reporting said. Pampers and Crisco oil maker Procter & Gamble Co. was the second-biggest advertiser, even though it cut its spending 10% to $393 million.

San Marino-based East-West Bank has asked regulators for permission to become a publicly traded company--but without a first-time sale of stock to the public. In a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, East-West asked that millions of dollars of privately traded shares sold in June through a private placement be registered as publicly traded shares by early January. It's not the usual way to become a public company, Wall Street specialists said.

In the past few weeks, it has seemed as if initial public offerings are to the stock market what Furby is to the toy market this holiday season.