eBay Taking It On The Chin

Shares of online auctioneer eBay were in a steep decline in mid-day trading as the company continued to experience fallout from the latest in a recent series of outages. Many other Internet issues were also in the red as investors continue to wait for this week’s economic news before jumping back into the sector.

Just after mid-day, internet.com’s Internet Stock Index had plunged 26.93, or 5.70 percent, to 445.14 and the Nasdaq Composite was off 14.47 to 2,433.41. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 80.73 to 10,571.24 as blue chips were benefitting from the technology decline.

eBay Inc. (EBAY) had slumped 20-3/8 to 145-1/2 after saying a 21-hour outage will cut second-quarter revenues by $3 million to $5 million.

Charles Schwab Corp. (SCH) was off 8-3/8 to 85-7/8 after reporting commission trades fell 28 percent in May. That news was leading others in the sector to fall. Ameritrade (AMTD) was off 7-7/8 to 70-7/8, DLJdirect (DIR) had shed 2-5/16 to 25-3/16 and E*Trade Group Inc. (EGRP) had fallen 3-1/2 to 34-1/4. .

Online advertising company DoubleClick Inc (DCLK) was down 11-1/16 to 77-3/4. The company Monday purchased Abacus Direct, a database marketing specialist, for $1 billion.

Other familiar names that were taking a fall included America Online Inc. (AOL), down 6-1/2 to 93 despite James Preissler, Internet analyst at PaineWebber, reiterating his “buy” on the stock. He said subscriber growth should increase 41 percent this year.

eToys (ETYS) was off 7-3/16 to 42. BancBoston Robertson Stephens initiated coverage of the stock with a “buy” rating.

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