from Bloomberg;
U.S. Stocks May Rise, Led by Online Retailers, Healtheon/WebMD
By Lee Theodoros
U.S. Stocks May Rise, Led by Online Retailers, Healtheon/WebMD
New York, Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Standard & Poor's 500 Index
Futures fell in electronic trading, though not enough to
discourage analysts looking for a rise in U.S. stocks led by
online retailers when trading starts tomorrow.
Bookseller Amazon.com Inc. and Yahoo! Inc., a leading global
Internet media company which runs the Yahoo Shopping service, are
among those expected to benefit as consumers spend big in the
holiday shopping season between now and 2000.
''E-tailers are going to be the first to benefit from what
looks like a very good Christmas season because anything online
is considered hot right now,'' said Barry Hyman, senior market
analyst at Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum Inc.
The December Standard & Poor's 500 futures contract fell
3.20 points to 1411.40. That's 0.6 percent below ''fair value,''
which takes into account dividends, the cost of money and the
number of days until expiration.
Stocks of traditional retailers such as discount chain Wal-
Mart Stores Inc. and Gap Inc., which also has Banana Republic and
Old Navy stores, are likely to gain as well, analysts said.
''The early read on the shopping season has been positive
for both the e-tailers and the bricks-and-mortar retailers,''
said David Bayer, who helps manage more than $50 million of
assets at Knappenberger Bayer Growth Advisors in Minneapolis.
For retailers, who expect to do a quarter or more of their
annual business during November and December, the next few weeks
are critical. The increase in competition from online sites means
the so-called bricks-and-mortar stores have to work harder to
attract customers, analysts said.
E-Tailers
Leading online retail sites may process almost 60,000
orders a day during the holiday shopping period, almost double
last year's level, according to research firm Jupiter
Communications Inc. The shopping crush began this week and is
expected to last unil about Dec. 19.
The Nasdaq Composite Index, home to technology and Internet-
related stocks, rose 27.31, or 0.8 percent, Friday to 3447.81,
its 16th closing record in 20 sessions. The index is up 57
percent so far this year; about a month from year-end, it's on
track for its biggest gain ever.
The market for Internet-related companies ''has an air of
invincibility about it,'' said Hyman. Even so, he said he expects
the gains in Nasdaq stocks to shrink in 2000.
''The rallies will still be there, but they're going to get
narrower,'' he said. ''It makes less and less sense that with
interest rates going higher, valuations are also higher.''
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 0.46 points to 1416.62
Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 19.26, or 0.2
percent, to 10.988.91.
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