Ripples, But No Panic For Europe's Investors

It's a minefield out there for European investors lately. First, in March, the hyped-up Amsterdam flotation of free Internet service provider World Online--the biggest Internet initial public offering ever in Europe--wound up in a 60% share price collapse. Thousands of small investors across Europe lost big-time, including hundreds of World Online employees. And since a peak in early March, Europe's high-flying Nasdaq clones such as Frankfurt's Neuer Markt and Paris' Nouveau Marche have plummeted by as much as 35%. Meanwhile, Europeans watched with horror as Wall Street hemorrhaged over $2 trillion in losses in a five-day period ended on Apr. 14.

Such shocks could be enough to turn anybody off equity markets, especially in Europe, where putting money in stocks still has a whiff of the exotic, if not the downright sinful. But don't look for Europeans to beat a permanent retreat from their local bourses. The signs are that popular capitalism on the Continent will more than just survive its first test of market turmoil. One clear indication was the Apr. 17 $3 billion flotation of 9.4% of Germany's T-Online. Launched in the wake of Nasdaq's collapse the previous Friday, it came off without a hitch, netting many first-time punters 39% on the first day of trading.