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Technology Stocks : QXL.Com (QXLC) - euro ebay? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: blankmind who wrote (104)	11/3/1999 1:17:00 AM
From: blankmind	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306

Saturday October 30 1999 INTERNET: FTSE seeks definition By Paul Taylor Investors are being asked to define an internet company. FTSE International, the joint venture between the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Times, has sent a letter to more than 100 financial institutions posing the question - "What is an internet company?" The results could determine the value of a range of quoted companies. FTSE International said it hoped the answers would help it devise a better classification system for internet shares that would serve the needs of investors and other index users. The move follows complaints that the current classification system is inadequate. It puts internet stocks in a sub-sector of information technology. The debate has been how to differentiate companies that provide the infrastructure and access to the internet from those using it as part of their business - so called e-commerce companies. The letter makes it clear that the FTSE classification committee believes the two types of business should be classified differently. In the letter, FTSE International asks: "For example, does the fact that a company does business over the internet change the nature of the business itself, or is the internet simply a marketing and/or distribution channel?" It continues: "Is the creation of a company like QXL only possible because of the internet, or is it just a variation on the traditional auction houses like Christies, Bonhams and Sotheby's?" FTSE International notes that when companies like Sears, Roebuck and Freemans began to sell their products by mail order, they remained classified as retailers rather than becoming classified as post offices. In the same way, when banks introduced telephone banking they remained banks and did not suddenly become fixed-line telecommunications companies. Following the same logic, the committee has, to date, classified companies that use the internet as a means of marketing or distribution not as internet stocks but according to their underlying business. FTSE International argues that Freeserve has been classified as an internet company because it provides access to the internet, and Yahoo as an internet company because it provides sites and navigation tools. In contrast FTSE believes Amazon.com should be classified as a retailer that uses the internet "because it fundamentally sells books". AT A GLANCE Key Numbers My Portfolio EQUITIES London Latest London Closing World Closing World Indices CURRENCIES Exchange Rates Pound & Dollar Spot Int. Currency Rates Money Rates MANAGED FUNDS UK & Offshore CAPITAL MARKETS Benchmark Govts Int. Bonds 10-year Spreads Emerging Mkt. Bonds EURO PRICES Euro Spot EMS Ecu Rates Euro-zone Bonds Euro Trading Day