Net Stocks’ Early Gains Don’t Last

Internet shares got off to a strong start Wednesday, but were unable to sustain gains and were being left behind by techs and blue chips.

At 11:30 a.m. Eastern, internet.com’s Internet Stock Index was off 2.78, or .68 percent, to 408.68, the Nasdaq was up 16.73 to 2,506.84 and the Dow Jones industrial average had added 11.39 to 10,666.54.

Most of the leaders had given back several points from highs reached earlier in the session. Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) was off 3-1/8 to 124-3/8 after hitting 130-1/2. On Wednesday, the company rolled out Yahoo! Mobile which allows personalized content to be downloaded to wireless devices.

Thomas Weisel Partners reiterated its “buy” rating on Yahoo as well as on Real Networks Inc. (RNWK) and Verisign Inc. (VRSN). Real was off 2-3/16 to 68-9/16 after hitting 72-3/4 and Verisign was down 2-1/16 to 72-9/16 after reaching 75-1/4.

Shares of America Online Inc. (AOL) were up 7/8 to 85-7/8. Lehman Brothers’ Brian Oakes reiterated his “buy” rating and his $200 price target.

Among other sector leaders, eBay Inc. (EBAY) was down 2-5/16 to 86-15/16 after reaching 93-1/2 and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) had shed 3 to 88 after hitting 92-3/4.

24/7 Media (TFSM) was up 1-1/4 to 24-1/8. Late Tuesday, the online advertising company reported a loss of $5 million of 26 cents a share.

Internet IPOs continued to flouder. Online job site HotJobs.com (HOTJ) was up 1/32 to 7-21/32 in its first full day of trading. The company, which reduced the price range of its offering by 20 percent, went public Tuesday at $8.

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