Bull market has sired a lot of new stocks, but few become stars.

Examines the fate of the 4,900 companies that had initial public offerings (IPOs) on United States stock markets from 1988 to 1998. Returns of those still traded; Success stories, including Dell Computer Corp. and America Online; IPO fads including casinos, high fashion and `teleservice' companies, including Sitel Corp., ICT Group Inc., TeleSpectrum and others; Analysis; Share price changes.