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Strategies & Market Trends : AMIGOS INVITATIONAL YEEHAW PORTFOLIO -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Phil Jacobson who wrote (1138)	8/20/1999 2:15:00 PM
From: James Strauss	Respond to of 1316

Phil: When I buy EBAY, it will be for 6 months or longer... This holiday season should be a good one... Jim

To: Phil Jacobson who wrote (1138)	8/21/1999 2:37:00 PM
From: Sergio H	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1316

EBAY/ETYS From www.internetstock.com EBAY <This week, the eTailDEX increased 12.8%, closing at 972.3 versus 861.9 last week, compared with the NASDAQ's 2.8% increase. This rally, while modest, appears to be the beginning of the 1999 Cyber holiday season surge we have been anticipating. We are encouraged by this positive move and expect that the growing consumer, media and investor enthusiasm for online shopping during Q4 should drive positive sales momentum and share price appreciation for a wide range of eTailers in our coverage universe. That said, we remain focused on those companies that we believe are preparing themselves sufficiently to deliver positive customer experiences even during periods of peak demand. Companies that meet these criteria, in our opinion, include Amazon.com, Priceline, eToys, eBay, AlloyOnline, Global Sports and Beyond.com. EBAY'S WIRELESS SERVICE LAUNCH - MORE GOOD NEWS TO COME- This week, eBay launched its anticipated wireless service, eBay a-go-go, with SkyTel, whereby service subscribers can receive notices when they have won, been outbid, or sold an item on eBay. We believe wireless technology could positively impact eBay and other eTailers' revenue opportunities over the longer term. Now that fanatic eBay customers can break free of their PCs, we can only hope road rage does not set in when a commuter learns she/he was outbid on a Superman collector lunch pail. However, more important to us is the stock's recent rebound following eBay's analyst day last week, at which the company provided us with a road map of new product launches. We look at this week's wireless service launch as the first in a series of upcoming announcements that we believe could drive significant share appreciation. While we recognize that additional site outages as the company continues working to upgrade its system infrastructure could cause future volatility, we believe investor sentiment has become more positive. We look for additional new products and services to demonstrate the scope of eBay's opportunity while also serving as potential catalysts for the stock.> ETYS <TOYS R US ALL TALK? - During its Q2 earnings call this week, Toys R Us (TOY $15-3/4) once again reiterated its intention to be the leading toy eTailer in Q4 1999. Considering the company's rocky progress to date in that regard, we remain skeptical that this is an achievable goal. The company's recent missteps certainly increased our skepticism. Last month Toys R Us announced that Bob Moog, hired in May as CEO of Toysrus.com, was leaving. At the time, he stated that Toysrus.com still had not been set up as a separate company, and that it still had not been funded. A new CEO has been named but has not begun to work full-time for the company. Additionally, the company's relationship with Benchmark Capital is now off as well. To unseat eToys (not to mention the newer market entrants such as Amazon and Wal-Mart), Toys R Us now faces the daunting task of coordinating its online offerings with its offline stores and ramping up its marketing, fulfillment and customer service efforts before holiday eTailing begins in October. While the Toys R Us' online yearnings were certainly awakened by eToys' impressive showing last year, we believe the company has severely underestimated its new foe's capabilities. We continue to believe that incumbent retailers have some very real assets to bring to the online sales channel. That said, to truly leverage those assets requires a great deal of energy, time, financial resources and management commitment. We believe this is particularly true in this category since the category leader, eToys, has set such a high standard. > Sergio