After seven straight days of gains, Internet stocks finally fell off their winning pace Thursday.
internet.com’s Internet Stock Index tumbled 23.26, or 4.79 percent, to
461.83, the Nasdaq Composite plunged 36.05 to 2,621.68 and the Dow
Jones industrial average fell 29.76 to 10,961.62.
The Commerce Department reported the trade deficit widened to $24.62
billion in June from $21.16 billion in May. Last month’s figure was sharply
higher than the $20.6 billion economists had forecast.
Priceline.com (PCLN)
fell 4-1/4 to 66-1/2, even though analyst Keith Benjamin, of
BancBoston Robertson Stephens, made positive comments on the stock. He has
a “strong buy” recommendation.
The Internet sell-off was broad. Yahoo!
Inc. (YHOO)
was down 5-7/8 to 139-3/16, Amazon.com
Inc. (AMZN)
fell 7 to 106-1/8, America Online
Inc. (AOL)
slumped 3-5/16 to 95-7/8, CMGI Inc. (CMGI)
was off 6-9/16 to 78-3/4,
Lycos (LCOS)
fell 3-1/16 to 41-11/16 and eBay
Inc. (EBAY)
lost 12-3/16 to 113-3/4.
All the news wasn’t bad, however. Onsale (ONSL)
was up 1-3/8 to 17-5/8. The online auctioneer late Wednesday said
third-quarter revenues will grow 12 percent, beating current forecasts. It also expects to reach profitability over the next two quarters.
That report also benefitted Egghead.com (EGGS)
which in July agreed to merge with Onsale. Egghead was up 1-1/8 to
8-7/8.
Inktomi Corp. (INKT)
was off 9-13/16 to 109-3/16. That came despite Thomas Weisel Partners
reiterating its “strong buy” rating.
Ameritrade Holdings (AMTD)
fell 2-3/16 to 21-5/8. Lehman Brothers cuts its fourth quarter
forecasts from a 2-cent profit to a 6-cent loss.
Online job site Heathunter.net (HHNT)
was the sector’s only debut. The stock rose 3/16 to 10-3/16.
In other IPO news, online search directory
LookSmart Inc. reduced the number of
shares for its upcoming IPO from 12 million to 9 million. The price range
is $11-$13.
Also, Bamboo.com and Tunes.com postponed their IPOs today.
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