Investors Still Flock to Internet New Issues

With earnings growth at technology giants under pressure, maybe it’s no surprise that investors continue to snap up new issues tied to the Internet.

Among companies making their trading debuts Wednesday, San Diego-based JNI Corp. (ticker symbol: JNIC), whose fiber channel technology provides faster links between servers and data storage devices, zoomed $23 to $42.

Also, InterTrust Technologies (ITRU) of Santa Clara surged $36.38 to $54.38.

InterTrust’s software helps companies control the rights to download technology, preventing piracy and misuse in the music and entertainment businesses, for example.

Another hot new issue Wednesday belonged to New York-based Predictive Systems (PRDS), which rocketed $17.88 to $35.88. The company designs and manages complex computing networks. Cisco Systems is a shareholder.

Meanwhile, an Italian new issue, while hardly an Internet stock, is attracting spectacular interest among individual investors in that country: More than 2 million Italians have applied to buy shares in the partial privatization of electric utility ENEL.

The deal could be valued at $19 billion, making it the world’s biggest new issue. ENEL also plans to trade in U.S. markets.