Shares of Infoseek Corp. tumbled 11 percent on news that Walt Disney Co. will merge Infoseek with its Buena Vista Internet Group. Elsewhere, Internet stocks slumped across the board ahead of earnings reports which will begin to roll out later this week.
internet.com’s Internet Stock Index ended off 20.42, or 3.58 percent, to 549.36 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 2.45 to 2,790.62. The Dow Jones industrial average went in the reverse direction, rising 7.28 to 11,200.98 — a new record.
Infoseek Corp. (SEEK) tumbled 5-9/16 to 45-15/16 on news that Walt Disney will combine Buena Vista Internet Group and Infoseek, folding them into its Go.com unit. Disney will also create a separate tracking stock for its Internet assets.
Many of the other sector leaders ended lower, including Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO), off 9-3/4 to 150-1/4, America Online Inc. (AOL) down 6-1/4 to 122 and eBay Inc. (EBAY) fell 7-7/8 to 127-7/8.
The online auctioneer suffered a three-hour outage on Saturday, it’s fourth failure over the past month.
Other familiar names falling included NetBank Inc. (NTBK)down 2-7/16 to 33-5/16, Priceline.com Inc. (PCLN) lost 4-5/32 to 104-27/32 and Inktomi Corp. (INKT) slipped 8 to 132.
One of the day’s strongest gainers was recent IPO Ariba Inc. (ARBA) up 12-7/8 to 112-5/8
Online brokers were mixed. Ameritrade Holding Corp. (AMTD) lost 2-1/16 to 36-1/16. The company Monday posted a fiscal third-quarter profit of $8.9 million, or 5 cents a share, beating analysts’ estimates of a 3-cent profit. Elsewhere in the sector, E*Trade Group Inc. (EGRP) lost 1-7/16 to 38-5/16, National Discount Brokers Group Inc. (NDB) fell 2-3/4 to 51-7/16, Southwest Securities Group Inc. (SWS) lost 1-7/8 to 65 and Siebert Financial Corp. (SIEB) ended down 15/16 to 25-3/16
Several familiar names fell in advance of earnings, including CNET Inc. (CNET), down 4-9/16 to 45-7/8 and EarthLink Networks Inc. (ELNK), fell 6-7/8 to 60-7/8.
Ask Jeeves Inc. (ASKJ) lost 4-1/8 to 54-1/2. The search engine, which recently went public, was sued late last week by IPLearn LLC. IPLearn said Ask Jeeves’ interactive butler violates their patents.
EarthWeb Inc. (EWBX) gained 2-1/2 to 45. The business-to-business Internet publisher was rated a “strong buy” by Pacific Crest Securities.
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