Last week was bittersweet. A total of 15 IPOs were priced raising $2.4 billion, the busiest week of 1999. The previous most active week was July 27, 1998 when 19 deals came to market and raised $1.33 billion. The following week, August 3, opened to a sharp stock market selloff when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 285 points, or down 3.2 percent, to close August 7 at 8,598 -- down from 8,883.

That ended the IPO party until mid-November 1998, but the similarities between then and now are telling. With a massive number of IPOs having already been priced this year, and the market showing obvious signs of weakness, the possibility we might see a further market selloff, and a slowing of IPO pricings akin to last August, aren't out of the question.

LOOKING UPBesides the heavy supply of recent IPOs, the other sweet sides to the week were the top-tier Internet offerings which lived up to their advanced billing. Last week's top picks were: Barnesandnoble.com, DLJdirect (NYSE :DIR) and StarMedia Network (Nasdaq: STRM). All these companies started trading on Wednesday and did well in the aftermarket.

Goldman Sachs priced 25.0 million shares of the online bookseller, Barnesandnoble.com, at $18 a share, up 33.3 percent from its initial filing range of $11 to $13 a share. The stock opened at $25 and sold high at $26.63 before settling into a narrow three-point trading range. Even though the stock was up almost 50 percent at its high from its offering price, IPO handicappers had expected more. But, when its arch competitor Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) sold off about 47 percent from its April high, it rained on Barnesandnoble.com's parade by indicating weakness across the sector.

The online financial service firm DLJdirect witnessed a modest opening when its 16.0 million shares started trading at $26.63, up from its pricing of $20. The deal had been increased 77.8 percent from its filing of 15.0 million shares at $11 to $13, and its stock caught fire the next day when its price soared to a high of $45.63, up 128.1 percent from its offering.

StarMedia Network, the Latin equivalent of America Online, got off to a fast start and never looked back. Goldman Sachs offered 7.0 million shares at $15, the IPO opened at $25.13 and exploded to a Friday high of $64.75.

BROKEN DEALSOn the bitter side, for the first time since the dot.com bonfire lit up the skies in mid-November 1998, an Internet IPO slammed into a stonewall called "broken deal."

Actually, there were four new issues that had that horse collar hung on their necks. Edgar Online was priced at $9.50 and opened at $8.75 a share. Juno Online Services (Nasdaq: JWEB) was offered at $13 a shares and closed its first trading at $11.63.

SalesLogix came to market at $9, opened at $9 and sold down to $8.94; no disaster, but still below its offering price. ZipLink.com was priced at the high end of its filing range of $12 to $14 a share. It opened at $13.50 and sold to a low of $9.75 during its first day of trading.

This week's message was loud and clear -- there is a two-tier market for Internet IPOs: the haves and the have-nots.

MAY'S NUMBERSThe month of May 1999 compared very favorable to May of last year.

This year's IPO production line produced 52 deals versus 53 in 1998. The volume was much larger in 1999, $9.51 billion against last year's volume of $5.91 billion. Of the 52 May 1999 offerings, 28 deals were priced above their initial filing ranges, 20 IPOs came to market within range, three underwritings were cut in size and there was one unit deal.

Additionally, eight IPOs soared into the IPO Hall of Fame with opening day gains of 100 percent or more.

By comparison, in May 1998, 20 IPOs were priced above their initial filing range, 19 within range, nine below range, and five unit offerings came to market. And none entered the IPO Hall of Fame.

At press time, the June 1999 IPO calendar has 75 new issues on the launch pad and, depending on market conditions, it could be more -- or in this market, less.