Bank technology stocks were mixed for the week, but fared better than the market, which continued its up-and-down ride.
The market apparently was not moved by Friday's economic data indicating that inflation is under control. The Commerce Department showed business inventories rising a modest 0.4%, and a report by Federal Reserve indicated that U.S. industrial production rose 0.7% and factories were operating at 83.2% of capacity in May.
The Dow Jones industrial average was trading in negative territory Friday afternoon at 5,649.45, down nearly 50 points from the previous week's close of 5,697.11, and the Nasdaq composite remained flat at 1,213.19 - down more than 16 points from the previous week's close of 1,229.76.
But bank technology stocks held their ground, with Transaction Systems Architects Inc. being the strongest performer for the week.
The Omaha-based developer of electronic funds transfer software saw its shares close at $61.50 Friday afternoon, up $5.50 for the week.
Gregory M. Gould, an analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co., recently issued a favorable report on Transaction Systems, detailing its faster-than-expected growth.
"Transaction Systems is a stock I like a lot," he said.
Transaction Systems is among a circle of publicly held companies benefiting from the nation's anticipated "shift from cash and checks toward cards and electronic commerce," he said.
In other news, investors may take note of soon-to-be on-line company called E Trade Group Inc., which plans to go public this summer.
The Palo Alto, Calif.-based provider of electronic brokerage services filed a statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission for its public offering of 6.25 million shares.
Matthew Casey, a spokesman with Hambrecht & Quist LLC, said the deal may occur as early as next month.
Mr. Casey said E Trade, with annual net sales of $2.5 million, expects its stock to fetch between $10 and $14 per share. The capital will be used to expand its business through acquisitions, as well as an expansion of its 200-member work force.
E Trade offers automated order placement, portfolio tracking, and market information to over 65,000 retail customer accounts. Its services are available via direct modem, or over value-added networks such as America Online and Compuserve.
The company also operates a service bureau unit, used on a private-label basis by discount brokerage firm Quick & Reilly Group, and BankAmerica Corp.
E Trade also has signed a letter of intent to develop strategic relationships with Intuit Inc. and Cybercash Inc.
In addition to Hambrecht & Quist, the other managers of the deal are Robertson, Stephens & Co., LLC, and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell.
Elsewhere, Broadway and Seymour Inc. said it anticipates net income of $5.4 million, or 60 cents per share, for the quarter ending June 30, 1996.
Wall Street analysts had a much more pessimistic view, estimating the company's earnings would be just 2 cents per share, according to a consensus estimate published by Zacks Investment.
Broadway and Seymour attributed its earnings to last month's sale of its Assets Management Services Group to Fidelity Institutional Investment Services.
