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To: Bill Harmond who wrote (103090)	5/9/2000 7:57:00 PM
From: H James Morris	Respond to of 164685

Billy, show me the Mo-mo other than oil stocks...please! >On April 26, analysts at Wachovia Securities raised their rating of eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY) to strong buy from long-term buy.

To: Bill Harmond who wrote (103090)	5/9/2000 11:43:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164685

Bol to take online books to Asia By Bertrand Benoit in Frankfurt Published: May 8 2000 15:12GMT \| Last Updated: May 9 2000 20:41GMT Bol, the international online bookstore owned by German media group Bertelsmann, will boost its Asian presence by opening websites in Japan and China this year, followed by Korea in 2001. Heinz Wermelinger, chief executive of the Switzerland-based company, said on Monday that Bol would be teaming up with Kadokawa Shoten Publishing, a major Japanese publisher, in an e-tailing joint venture serving Japanese readers. Speaking in Tokyo, where Bol opened an embryonic office last year, Mr Wermelinger said his company would have a majority stake in the venture, which would start offering books in Japanese early in the summer. Bol is also in "advanced" talks with potential partners in Korea and is planning its own online business in China. The latter will use logistics provided by the Shanghai branch of Bertelsmann's book club, a mail-order business with world wide operations. Bol, which has online bookstores in 13 countries, mainly in Europe, launched the first leg of its Asian expansion in March with the opening of three websites offering English language books in Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. While Amazon, the US-based online bookstore pioneer, has sought to establish a leadership presence in only a handful of key markets, such as the UK and Germany, Bol has opted for a rapid expansion of its international reach. Mr Wermelinger said Bol would differentiate itself further from its US competitor by concentrating on media and entertainment while Amazon was expanding its offering to such products as garden tools, make-up, or kitchen accessories. Nick Jones, an analyst at Jupiter Communications, said: "Bol can maintain its fast rate of geographical expansions without getting distracted by the daily running of websites and their logistics because of its joint-venture model and use of Bertelsmann's book-selling network." In Japan, Bol will come into direct competition with Kinokuniya, the market leader, which operates a fee-based online-store modelled on traditional book clubs. By partnering with Kadokawa, said Mr Jones, Bol would ensure its operation follows locally established business models. Bol has generally favoured joint ventures over setting up its own websites. It has linked up with such publishers as Havas in France, Planeta in Spain, KF in the Nordic region, and Mondadori in Italy. Plans for Bol to list on the Neuer Markt, Frankfurt's high-growth stock market, were shelved by Bertelsmann last week because of unfavourable market conditions. The privately-owned group has committed DM500m ($228.4m) to the online bookstore, of which less than half is believed to have been spent.