Etrade will offer online users chance to buy shares in IPOs. (initial public offerings)(Etrade Securities' online trading service) (Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)

Etrade Securities Inc. last week announced that it will be raising equity and capital through initial public offerings (IPOs), as well as private offerings on its own Web site and other online services, subject to regulatory approval.

The new Etrade service, based in Palo Alto, Calif., is scheduled for introduction this fall and will allow customers to access early stage public and private investment opportunities and newly issued stock from larger companies. Electronic financial commerce is growing because it is a business that deals purely in information, according to Dave Taylor, vice president and research area director at Gartner Group Inc., in Stamford, Conn. …