Stock Watch: FreeMarkets More Than Doubles Its Range

It is not at all rare for Internet companies to bump up the price ranges of their initial public offerings, but what business-to-business online auction site FreeMarkets did on Tuesday turned some heads. FreeMarkets, whose clients have included General Motors and Pepsi, more than doubled the price range of its IPO, raising it from $14 to $16 a share to a whopping $40 to $42 a share. Of course, the final pricing could be even higher.

Demand for this offering is clearly high, which is not surprising because business-to-business stocks are among the top performers on Wall Street right now. FreeMarkets, which conducted auctions that created more than $1.4 billion in transactions in the first three quarters this year, will definitely be a stock to watch when it goes public, more than likely on Friday.