Philip Morris Verdict Tanks Dow
By Amy Kover
We got slammed real hard today. Would love to blame it
on holiday-related light volume, but that would be a
lie since both NYSE and NASDAQ clocked some serious
traffic. Instead, the hideous Kosovo situation and some
bleeding from big boys like Philip Morris really
spooked the markets. And no index was spared. The Dow
tanked by 127.10, to 9786.16, a total of 1.28%. The
NASDAQ also skidded by 18.88, to 2461.41. Finally, in
broader markets the S&P 500 fell by 14.38 points, to
1286.37. Yuck. Here's the scoop on today.....
BIG BOYS UNDER THE GUN.... Another punishing day for
Big Mo. The tobacco company lost 2 9/16 points, to $35.
That's a painful 7% decline. Yesterday's $80 million
Oregon verdict seems to have set investors' smoke
alarms off (really bad, I know). Many had buried the
tobacco business's legal woes as a thing of the past.
But then last month a California jury awarded one
plaintiff about $50 million, and now this month its $80
million. That's probably the beginning of a whole lot
of cash to be handed out in cases like this. Poor MO.
(Ha!) Here comes my self righteous bit. Ready? I
couldn't care less. Face it. They lied. They got called
on it. And now everyone wants blood. It's not that
complicated guys. Meanwhile, a slew of other large
companies suffered today as well (though I should think
for different reasons). General Electric lost 2 11/16,
falling to $110 5/8 (very bad for Dan T). Walt Disney
lost well over $1.
IPOs ROUND-UP.... Eww. Did I really write round-up?
Remind me never to use that dorky phrase again. It's
not very Netty of me. Speaking of the Internet. We had
another one of those crazy IPOs today. And this time
it's Ziff-Davis' ZDNet. Stock came out this morning at
$19 per share. Then Wall Street took that sucker up
another $17, to $35 3/4. Pretty funny considering
parent company Ziff-Davis got killed today. It lost 7
1/2 points, a humiliating 25%, on a downgrade from
Merrill. Yesterday, ZD had closed at its 52-week high
of $29 as investors clamored to get in on the IPO. Hope
all those suckers got out in time! Oh yeah. Remember
that big, gigantic, unprecedented Pepsi Bottling spin
off that was coming? It happened. And it was a bomb.
Started out at $23 per share. Sank by 1 5/16. First
Elton Brand of Peekskill. Now Purchase's Pepsico. A
week of losers for Westchester County.
DRUGSTORE.COM COWBOYS.... A special little visit from
Mr. Serwer. Take it away, Andy: "So Peter Neupert, CEO
of drugstore.com, came by today. A real drugstore,
trucking-diving man if you ask me. Drugstore.com is
interesting. It's private (only a month or so old) and,
of course, Neupert just inked a big deal with
Amazon.com which is "a significant minority investor."
It's also being bankrolled by Kleiner Perkins, Maveron
(which includes Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks) and
Liberty Media. Quite a pedigree! Neupert is part of
that whole Seattle mafia, he worked at MSFT for 15
years under Patti Stonesifer--she's on the board of
Amazon--and was in charge of MSNBC. Drugstore.com is
open for business, check it out! Neupert said it's too
early for numbers and there is no business plan other
than to become the dominant player in this biz. Will
she fly? As usual, who knows? With these businesses I
always like to ask myself, would I use it? The answer
is I guess I would, especially if I could click on my
prescriptions and end run Duane Reade hell. And if it
really had total selection. Five years from now,
Neupert is either a zillionaire or a millionaire. You
make the call!!!" Thanks, Andy.
Loose Change
Multiple Zones, a marketer for Mac and Wintel
computers, was one of the first to snag a spot as a
charter merchant for Amazon.com's new auction biz.
Don't know exactly what that means but I think it gives
them special advertising access. Very nice! Zones
picked up a beautiful 53% on the news. While Amazon
gained 7 1/2 more points. Looks like they're all in the
Zone. Guarding their Zone. Airzone. AmazonZones. Wow.
Lots of phonetic fun to be had with these words...
What's up with Coke? Journal reports today that its
price increases have eaten into sales growth. Last
year, Asia was the culprit. Wait. Don't people want to
drink Coke no matter what? Guess not. KO knocked down 1
7/8 to $61 3/8.... BTW, Amazon Auction has come up with
one fun little gimmick, which is to offer a $10 gift
certificate to every first-time winning bidders. And
guess who got carved out of that deal? Yours truly. Got
a note from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. So important. Told
me all about how great Amazon auctions is, how it's
guaranteeing privacy. But nothing--nothing-- about
giving me any $10. I thought we were friends, Jeff! You
could have at least given me the Melissa virus. But no,
I'm getting nothing.... Basketball, basketball,
basketball. There's so damn much to say since I last
graced this space, and yet where to begin? For
starters, I'm very very bummed out about UConn winning
the Big Dance. Everyone's telling me: "But it's
Calhoun's first time. El Amid's so great. You should be
thrilled!" Whatever. I can't stand El Amid. And there's
no logical reason. Just don't like him. In fact, I
might start the "Anti-El Amid Club".... And what about
the street-brawling Knicks?! I'm telling you, these
guys should follow LT and Oakley's lead and get into
professional wrestling. They're much better at fighting
than playing basketball. Anyone who saw last night's
Pacers game can attest to that. Fight with Patrick and
Rose broke out, and Rose wound up punching referee Dick
Bavetta in the nose. An ugly sight but it certainly
provided the best quote in NBA reffing this year.
Bavetta comes up to the officials with a bandage on his
nose. Says: Rose ejected on a punch. Official ask:
Where's the punch? Bavetta: "Right here." And he points
to his bandaged nose. Classic!... P.S. Knicks won on
sheer luck. Sheer luck.... Let's see what happens next
Tuesday, when my boys meet up with Orlando (I'll be at
the game for a little live coverage). Will Penny get a
pop in the nose too?....
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