And a new public offering of an electronic stock market, Instinet, went well.

As retail initial offerings go, Guess is not exactly a model.

In all, 36 offerings of the 87 offered went unsold.

The cold offering went public a day earlier.

That offering went well, and the bonds are now trading at a premium.

A Lehman official said the offering was going well, but was not yet sold out.

As each offering went into the basket, there was applause and cheering.

And no single offering is going to attract the public in general.

WHEN an initial public offering goes wrong, a company can find itself left with few friends.

The initial public offering, at the end of September, did not go well: it was undersubscribed by 14 percent.