Fed Rate Hike No Surprise to Investors

Internet issues remained at mid-day levels following this afternoon’s
expected announcement that the Fed would raise short-term interest rates by
a quarter point.

The rate hike is the fourth quarter-point increase in the
past eight months. In addition, the Fed hinted at more rate hikes in the
near-term future.

internet.com’s Internet Stock Index rose 16.57, or 1.98 percent, to 852.51,
the Nasdaq Composite gained 21.98 to 4073.96 and the Dow Jones industrial
average dropped 37.85 to 11003.20.

VerticalNet (VERT)
fell 19-1/8 to 233. Prudential raised its price target on the B2B hub from
$250 to $350.

CMGI (CMGI)
jumped 4-1/16 to 119-1/2. NextOffice.com announced it has secured a $10
million round of financing, led by the CMGI @Ventures B2B fund.
NextOffice.com’s mission is to be the destination of choice for the
procurement of business furnishings.

“We expect they will quickly define and
lead the online component of the $15 billion+ domestic office furniture
market,” said Josh Daniels of CMGI @Ventures.

Thomas Weisel Partners initiated coverage on Student Advantage (STAD)
with a “strong buy” rating and 12-18 month price target of $32.
Reporter@Large recently featured STAD in a research note and also in an
interview with chief executive officer Raymond Sozzi. Shares finished down 3/8 to 17-1/8.

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN)
added 2 to 69-7/16. The company is reporting its fourth-quarter results at
today’s market close. Analysts are expecting a 48-cent loss.

High-speed chip maker GlobeSpan Inc.
(GSPN) rocketed 45-3/4 higher to 168-1/8. The company reported
much-better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and announced a 3-for-1
stock split.

InfoSpace.com Inc. (INSP)
lost 1-1/2 to 144-1/4. The company’s information look-up system will be
integrated into Microsoft’s Office, enabling its users to easily obtain
phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

EToys Inc. (ETYS)
gained 2-1/2 to 17. Robertson Stephens Wednesday raised its rating on the
slumping toy etailer to “buy” from long-term “attractive.”

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