New Year's Eve Ball Drops On IMNET; 'Financial Viability' In Question, Say Partners

"It wasn't a surprise, but it was a shock" is how one staffer described the sentiment around International Marketnet, L.P. on the afternoon of December 31st. In a four-sentence announcement, the joint venture's parents confirmed what many had suspected, that the multimillion dollar effort to bring a new financial information and branch automation system to market was doomed.

Four sentences don't provide many lines to read between, but one phrase -- "reassessment of the financial viability of the