Onsale and Egghead Head Down the Aisle

SAN FRANCISCO -- Soft economic data are lending a positive tone to the market early today, though gains have been stymied by a lack of progress from the bond market.

TheStreet.com Internet Sector index was up 6.13, or 1.5%, at 663.23 early today.

Net/Tech Indices INDEX CHANGE % VALUE TSC Internet 8.04 +1.2% 661.14 TSC E-Commerce 0.5 +0.4% 114.72 TSC E-Finance 13/16 +1.3% 90 3/8 Nasdaq 11.00 +0.4% 2789.20

Yet another Net-sector marriage was announced today, this time between online retailer and auctioneer Onsale (ONSL) and online computer and software retailer Egghead.com (EGGS). The deal is valued at approximately $400 million. Egghead.com shareholders will receive 0.565 share of Onsale for each outstanding share of Egghead.com. Based on Tuesday's closing prices, Egghead.com shares are valued at around 12.7125, a slight premium from its 12 1/16 closing price Tuesday.

In early trading, Egghead.com was up 1/4, or 2%, at 12 5/16. Onsale was down 15/16, or 4%, at 21 9/16. TheStreet.com took an in-depth look at this week's deals in the Internet sector in a piece earlier today.

There were rumors Tuesday that Yahoo! (YHOO) was set to announce a stock split and those rumors proved true -- sort of. Yahoo! Japan, a joint venture between Yahoo! and Japan's Softbank, announced a 2-for-1 split while also reporting a profit of $2.1 million for the first quarter, according to Bloomberg. Yahoo! also announced it had begun auctions at Yahoo! Germany. Yahoo was up 3 5/16, or 2%, at 160 1/4 in early trading.

Also on the move was Inktomi (INKT). The stock has been weak after the company filed an offer Monday to sell 3.3 million shares. Today, Banc of America began coverage of the stock with a buy rating and a 170 price target. It was trading up 5 15/16, or 4.7%, at 131 1/2.

Shares of GoTo.com (GOTO) were rallying after Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, the lead underwriter for the GoTo.com IPO, initiated coverage with a buy rating and a six- to 12-month price target of 100. It was up 5, or 9%, at 59.

J.P. Morgan had positive things to say about Network Solutions (NSOL). Analysts reiterated a buy on the stock and a 150 price target. In a note today, analyst Raimundo Archibold Jr. wrote that he expects Network Solutions to launch its dot-com directory in the last week of July with an initial rollout of 1.5 million to 1.8 million businesses. Network Solutions was up 2 17/32, or 3%, at 76 1/2.

On the IPO front, Goldman Sachs priced Tibco Software's (TIBX:Nasdaq) 7.3 million-share IPO top-range at $15. The company's products allow computer applications to communicate over the Internet. Tibco is majority-owned by Reuters (RTRSY).

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