Internet, Techs Continue Selloff

Internet investors were weathering another rough ride at midday Wednesday as the Nasdaq Composite continued its steep decline. The tech-heavy index is now caught in a correction as it’s off almost 4 percent from its recent record.

At noon, internet.com’s Internet Stock Index had plunged 45.51, or 5.31 percent, to 811.63, the Nasdaq Composite had dove 93.12 to 3,808.57 while the Dow Jones industrial average had recovered 68.95 to 11,066.88.

Not surprisingly, many leaders were suffering greatly, including Ariba Inc. (ARBA), off 18-7/8 to 166-1/8, Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) was down 11-5/16 to 243-7/8, Broadvision Inc. (BVSN) had tumbled 21-5/8 to 148-11/16 and Doubleclick Inc. (DCLK) was down 21-11/16 to 215-3/8.

Also posting steep declines were CMGI Inc. (CMGI) off 20-1/2 to 273-1/4, Network Solutions Inc. (NSOL) down 15-1/4 to 209-7/8 and Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) had fallen 30-7/8 to 412-1/8.

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) had fallen 10-5/16 to 71-5/8. The e-tail giant reported holiday sales more than tripled to $2.6 billion in 1999. However, it still expects to report a loss for the year.

There were several bright spots in the sector, however, including Real Networks Inc. (RNWK), up 3-1/8 to 120-9/16. Real and Yahoo! Inc. have reached a deal to keep Real content available on Yahoo!’s Broadcast.com unit. Also, Real released the final version of Real Player 7.

priceline.com Inc. (PCLN) was up 2-5/8 to 56-5/8. the company reported fourth-quarter sales of about $168 million, beating original forecasts. It also said it expects to report record airline ticket sales in the fourth quarter.

Net2Phone Inc. (NTOP) was up 3-1/16 to 54-1/8. Matsushita Electric Industrial’s Panasonic unit will develop a phone capable of completing long distance calls using either conventional telephone lines or Net2Phone’s voice-over-IP service.

Red Hat Inc. (RHAT) had gained 5-5/8 to 220-5/8. The Linux OS provider bought privately-held Hell’s Kitchen Systems for $85 million in stock.

Stamps.com (STMP) was up 4-1/4 to 45-1/2. Goldman Sachs’ Jamie Friedman Wednesday raised his rating to “trading buy” and said the stock could go past $75 a share.

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