Coolsavings.com makes its debut with little fanfare

Shares of E-commerce firm Coolsavings.com fell more than 15 percent this afternoon on its first day of trading despite pricing itself at the bottom of its price range.

The company, which offers incentives and promotional techniques for online and offline retailers, saw its stock fall $1 to $6 after beginning trading at $7 per share on the Nasdaq market.

Earlier today, the company said it would offer 3.3 million shares rather than 4.2 million shares.

Coolsavings.com reduced its IPO price range to between $7 and $8 per share from between $8 and $10. Earlier this month, Coolsavings dropped the price range from between $11 and $13 to between $8 and $10.

The lowered expectations come as e-commerce companies continue to lose investors' interest. Most Internet companies have been pulling or postponing their initial offerings because of the general downturn and volatility of the stock market.

Last week, American Greetings said it was withdrawing the IPO for its online unit, and in late April only 5 of 16 scheduled IPOs began public trading.

Handspring, the handheld computer start-up launched by the people who developed the PalmPilot, this week lowered its expectations, saying it plans to raise as much as $220 million rather than the previously announced $300 million.

Despite the market volatility, some Internet-related firms have managed to reap a bit of the IPO magic seen last year. Yesterday, fiber-optics company New Focus and iBeam Broadcasting, a satellite-based streaming media technology provider, caught a strong updraft.

But even some companies with surefire chances for success have floundered. Shares of AT&T Wireless Group, the tracking stock that reflects AT&T's wireless telephone operations, are below their offering price of $29.50. Last month, the company's record $10.62 billion IPO got a lukewarm welcome. The stock closed yesterday at $27.69.

Coolsavings' offering is being managed by Chase H&Q, Lehman Brothers and Thomas Weisel Partners. The company launched in February 1997.