Short Take: FairMarket files $40 million IPO

FairMarket, which sets up and maintains auction sites for online merchants and portals, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to raise as much as $40 million in an initial stock sale. The company's backers include Microsoft and Excite@Home. In an effort to break eBay's grip on the prosperous online auction market, several portals, including Excite and Lycos, direct Internet traffic to the network of auction sites FairMarket hosts for about 90 online merchants. Items listed for sale on one site can be found throughout FairMarket's network, the filing said.

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