Google Defies Low Expectations, Jumps 18%

That's the hope, at least, of one professional investor, who, after weeks of expressing skepticism about the IPO, acknowledged placing a few bids on Google stock in the new $85-$95 offering range.

Looking back on earlier Internet IPOs, the investor remembers the only company pricing its IPO in a tougher market as being eBay (EBAY) -- an IPO that didn't turn out too badly in the end.

Wednesday's price-range cutback came at the end of a most eventful period for the closely watched deal. Google had asked the SEC to declare the IPO effective Tuesday in hopes that Nasdaq trading could begin Wednesday. But the agency, without citing any reason, took no action on the request.

Wednesday's action also reflects the brutal market for technology stocks. Since Google registered the offering with the SEC in late April, the Nasdaq Composite is down close to 10%, and a handful of IPOs have been delayed or withdrawn. Since the end of June, shares in Google's largest Internet brethren -- Yahoo!, Amazon (AMZN) and eBay -- have dropped between 15% and 30%.

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