Tech sector soars on Clinton
nod
By Reuters
Special to CNET NEWS.COM
February 27, 1998, 3:20 p.m. PT
update Internet stocks hit record highs this morning
on the heels of President Clinton's proposal to ban
U.S. and international taxes on business transactions
conducted online.
"You still see some of the glow of President Clinton's
statement that he was against an Internet tax," said
Hambrecht & Quist analyst Paul Noglows.
Yahoo (YHOO) shares, for example, soared 6-1/8 to a
record high of 74-1/4 before closing at 73-3/16, and
Internet book retailer Amazon.Com (AMZN) also hit
a record high, climbing 6-7/8 to as high as 79-5/8,
before dipping slightly to close at 77.
"There should be no special breaks for the Internet,
but we can't allow unfair taxation to weight it down
and stunt the development of the most promising new
economic opportunity in decades," Clinton told some
300 high-tech industry executives at the BancAmerica
Robertson Stephens Technology '98 conference in San
Francisco yesterday.
Other Internet merchandisers and providers that saw
their stocks appreciate Friday morning included:
Excite (XCIT), which rose 3-1/16 to reach 47-1/4;
high-speed access Internet provider @Home (ATHM),
which gained 2 to 35-1/2 before closing at 34-1/8; and
direct marketer CMG Information Services (CMGI),
which inched up 4-5/8 to 47-7/8.
Internet auctioneer OnSale (ONSL) also was up 2-7/8,
to 28-11/16, while Internet advertising company
DoubleClick (DCLK) rose to 33 before closing at
31-15/16. DoubleClick went public at $17 per share
on Monday.
Internet merchandising and related advertising
revenues will be "an important source of revenues for
these companies going forward," Noglows said of
companies like Yahoo.
Other Internet companies that derive part of their
revenues from merchants peddling their wares in
cyberspace also saw their stocks rise. Lycos (LCOS)
gained 1-9/16, to 41-1/4, while Infoseek (SEEK) rose
1-7/16, to 16-7/16.
Internet service providers MindSpring Enterprises
(MSPG) and online giant America Online (AOL)
bucked the trend, with MindSpring losing 7/8 to
48-3/8, and AOL shedding 2-3/8 to 121-3/8.
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