Miami Herald Article on ECEC - 4/16/99
BUSINESS
Published Wednesday, April 14, 1999, in the Miami Herald
eCom eCom.com shares take off despite lack of earnings
By JAMES McNAIR
Herald Business Writer
It has no earnings, barely any sales, and analysts pay no attention to it. But it does
have
an exciting new Web site and a catchy name, and because of that, the shares of
eCom
eCom.com in Riviera Beach are soaring.
On Tuesday, eCom eCom.com's stock was the 18th-biggest gainer on all of Wall
Street, closing at $16.62 1/2, up $7.37 1/2, or 80 percent. What was all the
commotion
about? The company announced Tuesday it has signed a deal with Webnet-Marketing
to promote eCom eCom.com's new Web site (ecomecom.com) on Internet places
like
Yahoo, Lycos and Excite.
The Web site consists of an online auction between registered sellers and buyers,
similar
to eBay except that sellers eventually have to pay a $36 annual fee. It also contains a
link to a sister Web site called Swap and Shop. And visitors can register for a
$10,000
cash drawing if they're willing to give their name, address and e-mail address.
Beyond that, there's not much more to say about the company, which used to be
known
as U.S. Amateur Sports. According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, eCom eCom.com racked up $53,986 in revenue and a $122,482 loss
during the quarter ended Nov. 30. The revenue came entirely from the sale of its Viper
M1 line of paintball markers and accessories.
David Panaia, chief executive at eCom eCom.com, did not return the Herald's phone
call Tuesday.
Shares of eCom eCom.com, quoted on the Nasdaq Electronic Bulletin Board, drifted
lazily below $2 until April 6. That's when the company announced that it had hired a
consulting firm to ''formulate and implement'' marketing initiatives for the Internet.
Investors made a mad dash, nearly tripling the stock price in one day.
Mal Berko, an Advest Inc. vice president in Boca Raton, said the rapid ascent in
eCom
eCom.com's stock price is more evidence of the gambling going on in the stock
market.
''This type of stuff just rankles me,'' Berko said. ''What you're looking at here is a
slobbering over Internet stocks by the national media, which causes a slobbering by
the
investment community.
''Designing a Web page takes as much as greasing a pole,'' he said.
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