Ticker Talk: Star fund manager Tom Marsico...

Ticker Talk: Star fund manager Tom Marsico is betting 3Com Corp. (COMS) will have the market in its Palm. Marsico, who racked up one of the best records in the 1990s, has been buying 3Com shares because he says its hand-held computers--the ubiquitous Palm Pilot--will overshadow traditional desktop personal computers. “I want to own Palm,” he said, adding that he remains indifferent toward 3Com’s networking business. 3Com plans to sell a stake in Palm (PALM) via an initial public offering the week of Feb. 28--and eventually spin off the rest to 3Com holders. Marsico generated average annual returns of 22%--beating the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 index by five percentage points--in nine years running the Janus Twenty fund. Since setting up Denver-based Marsico Capital Management in 1997, his two funds have bested the S&P; each year. Marsico has also been buying Sony (SNE), expecting strong sales of its PlayStation 2 video-game player; Corning Inc. (GLW), the world’s largest maker of glass fiber for telecom networks; and biotech firm Genentech Inc. (DNA). . . . MTVi Group Inc., the Internet music unit of Viacom (VIA), filed to sell shares in a $10-million IPO as it tries to take advantage of the growing use of the Web to distribute music.