Weekend Report: Springtime IPO for Goldman?

Plus, eBay says the Feds are investigating it in connection with possible illegal transactions on its Web site.

Author:: Elizabeth Roy Stanton
Publish date:: Feb 28, 1999 8:24 PM EST

The chatter on Wall Street on Monday morning will probably concern the latest issue of the

New Yorker

, which says

Goldman Sachs

may take itself public as soon as May.

Available on newsstands Monday, the magazine says an announcement is likely in March, when the Street's last major private partnership announces first-quarter earnings. Most analysts had expected the firm to wait until at least late summer, but people close to the firm say chairman Henry Paulson is eager to get the deal done, according to the article.

With exquisitely unfortunate timing, Goldman began taking steps toward an IPO in late July, only to pull the offering in late September as stock prices tumbled from their midsummer highs.

The only other weekend news likely to move stocks came long after Friday's close.

Ebay

(EBAY) - Get Report

disclosed that the federal government was investigating it in connection with "possible illegal transactions" on the auction site, whose stock closed Friday at 334 a share -- up 34 1/2, or 12%, ahead of Monday's 3-for-1 split. The company gave no further details of the investigation, which comes on the heels of a similar inquiry, by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs, that the company had disclosed last month. Ebay, which brings buyers and sellers together on its site, has had problems with buyers not paying, sellers not delivering, and people putting illegal firearms up for sale, according to

Reuters

also reported Friday that two

Compaq

(CPQ)

insiders signaled their intention to sell shares in filings released during the week. The PC maker closed at a near three-month low of 35 3/8 Friday. William Strecker, senior VP for technology and corporate development, may sell 120,000 shares and Enrico Pesatori, senior VP of marketing, may sell 20,000, according to the filings.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 average was trading lately up 61.53, or 0.43%, at 14429.07.

In the Papers

The weekend financial press published news that is bullish for three industries: life insurance, natural gas and aviation services.

Barron's

, forecasting a wave of consolidation among the life insurers, mentions as possible targets

Lincoln National

(LNC) - Get Report

ReliaStar Financial

(RLRl)

American General

(AGC)

and

Torchmark

(TMK)

Barron's

also reports that for the natural gas industry, the rig count has fallen so far amid dropping prices that production should start to fall this year, resulting in rising prices during the second half. The story mentions

Enron Oil & Gas

(EOG) - Get Report

Santa Fe Energy

(SFR)

and

Union Pacific Resources Group

(UPR)

as possible beneficiaries.

Finally, the

New York Times

Money & Business

section says aviation services companies like