Briefly

Prudential Financial Inc., parent of Prudential Insurance, estimated a price range of $25 to $30 for its initial public stock offering, which the company hopes to sell in December. Prudential plans to sell 110 million shares in the stock offering, or 19% of the company. The rest of the shares will be distributed to Prudential policyholders as the company converts from mutual ownership to public ownership.

Meanwhile, three new stocks that began trading Thursday got a mixed reception. Weight Watchers International Inc. (WTW) soared $5.50 to $29.50 on the New York Stock Exchange, and Bam Entertainment (BFUN) rose 71 cents to $8.71 on Nasdaq. But DJ Orthopedics (DJO) fell $1.75 to $15.25 on the NYSE.