1.   Bankers said Metro Pacific has asked for bids from underwriters to take Smart public this year.

2.   After flirting with a stock offering for more than five years, Farallon Computing Inc. of Alameda is preparing to go public this year, The Chronicle has learned.

3.   Performance rating results of every Texas public school are made public each year.

4.   The initial offering of VA Stahl is the second major sale of an Austrian steel company to the public this year.

5.   When Philippine electronics assembler Ionics Circuits Inc. decided to sell shares to the public this year, investors could be forgiven for not sprinting to their nearest broker.

6.   Director General of State-Owned Companies Bacelius Ruru has said that only two firms were ready to float their shares to the public this year.

7.   Sharifah Anim said the annual column received tremendous response from the public this year.

8.   The drop comes even though new properties are opening to the public every year.