Ticker Talk

Playboy.com Inc. filed Monday for a $500-million initial public offering. The online unit of Playboy Enterprises Inc. (PLA) hopes to cash in on Playboy’s brand name, image and content to carve out its own niche in the market for adult Internet entertainment. The parent company’s stock rose $2.94 to $26.31 on the NYSE. . . . TheStreet.com Inc. (TSCM), a financial news Web site with 100,000 subscribers, said its news services will be offered for free while some of its other sites will require fee-based subscriptions. TheStreet.com’s stock, down 73% from last year’s peak, gained 63 cents to $19.13 on Nasdaq. . . . Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD), whose shares quadrupled last year but are way off their peak, said no top executives gave the required notice by Dec. 31 that they planned to sell shares this year. Ameritrade rose 13 cents to $22.31 in Nasdaq trading. . . . Cupertino, Calif.-based Telocity Inc., a provider of high-speed Internet access and services to home users, plans an initial stock sale that could raise as much as $150 million.