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Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Skeeter Bug who wrote (28404)	11/28/1998 6:59:00 PM
From: Spider Valdez	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

most important i think was greenspan to lower interest rate. also we come back from correction where like in amazon -21 many short cover. unemployment is at all time low & internet stocks all perform well with y2k. fund managers like internet stocks at this time & like i say several weeks ago when many say this is bear market that i feel it is only correction. i think i was correct. i say still market is bullish. i hope this answer your request. good luck! spider

To: Skeeter Bug who wrote (28404)	11/28/1998 8:25:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Amazon Seeks to Live Up to Its Namesake (River) SIMSON GARFINKLE c.1998 The Boston Globe Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year in the physical world, and indications are good that it's going to be a record-breaking shopping day in cyberspace as well. That's because the combination of easy-to-use Web sites, incredible selection, and overnight delivery is turning on-line shopping from a novelty into a necessity for more and more consumers. Consider me. I'm a book junky. Last year at this time I had spent $1,491 on books, of which $327 went to Amazon.com, probably the Internet's most successful on-line merchant. This year the amount that I've spent on books has dropped to $1,059, but $864 went to Amazon purchases. That trend is great for Seattle-based Amazon, but lousy for local booksellers. Although I still love walking through a brick-and-mortar bookstore, for some reason these trips are growing less productive. Indeed, one thing I've discovered myself doing is visiting a physical store, then going on line to order the same book. Why purchase a book over the Web from Amazon, when you can buy it just as easily in Harvard Square? One reason is price. I find Amazon consistently has lower prices than my local bookstores. And even though I do have to pay a shipping ($3 per shipment plus 95 cents per item) fee, I don't have to pay sales tax. While it's true that I don't get the book for a day or two, usually the delay is no big deal. But the biggest advantage to shopping on line isn't price; it's selection. Last year I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Bezos, Amazon's brilliant president and founder. He told me people are always asking him why he decided to name his Web site after those one-breasted huntresses of Greek mythology. He didn't. Amazon, he said, is named after the Amazon River, the largest, most powerful river of the world. His goal was to be the Amazon of the book selling world. And he's done it. Case in point: A few weeks ago, I wanted to get my 1999 FoxTrot 16-month weekly planner. No local bookstore had it in stock, so I clicked to Amazon on the Web. Less than a week later, I had the calendar. But the company didn't just send the book to me; it also scanned the cover and put it on its Web site, building out their database in the process. Indeed, if you look beneath the covers, there is something else happening with on-line merchandising that's being generally overlooked. Like many things on the Web, Amazon's size is part virtual. It doesn't really stock every book. Instead, it has extremely close relationships with book distributors and publishers around the world. Amazon shelves have only the most popular books that customers purchase; order a less popular book, and Amazon requests it from its distributor in its next shipment, unpacks a big box in Seattle when the books arrive, packs your book into a box destined for you, and sends the package on its merry way. Amazon is really a huge trans- shipping point, and the company's programmers have spent an incredible amount of effort trying to tune this process to be as efficient as possible. Order a book from Amazon, and you'll discover that your invoice is covered with barcodes. After each book title is a little code, like (2-2-6), which describes the book's exact location in the warehouse. The invoice serves double-task as a pick list that tells Amazon's warehouse workers were to pick up each book. Books in the warehouse are not organized alphabetically or by Dewey Decimal; they're arranged so that orders can be filled in the shortest amount of time. Running the whole operation is Amazon's extremely sophisticated order processing system, which combines aspects of ordering books, managing the warehouse, fulfilling customer orders, and, of course, running the Web site. Amazon isn't really a bookseller; it's essentially a big software development firm. The company currently has 60 job openings in software development and systems management. It has just two openings in business development, five in marketing, five in merchandising. This is one reason that it's so easy for the company to move into other markets, like CDs, DVDs, and software. The next logical step for Amazon is to eliminate UPS and Federal Express entirely and sell intellectual property on line. Amazon's software has two primary goals: improving the shopping experience, and cutting operations costs as tightly as possible. Ease-of-use, selection, and customer satisfaction are important issues for on-line shopping --- far more important than they are with stores in the physical world. That's because in the physical world, there is an important tangible advantage that blesses some stores at the expense of others: location. If I live next to a shoddy bookstore, I'll still check it for a best seller or a travel book, simply because it's easier than going across town to another store. But on the Internet, it's just as easy to shop the best. For this reason, the Internet may represent a fundamentally new twist in shopping: the emergence of winner- take-all retailers. (Indeed, there are other bookstores on the Web, such as barnesandnoble.com and www.books.com, but I don't enjoy using them as much. Barnes and Noble didn't have FoxTrot 1999 calendar.) Five or 10 years from now, shopping on the day after Thanksgiving might be a very different experience. Buying books, CDs, or software at a store might be a thing of the past. Instead, Mom and Dad might just gather around a computer screen and pick out their gifts. Or, in another twist, we might still find ourselves going to brick-and-mortar bookstores where we will look at the books, enjoy a coffee, and perhaps pick up a little toy. But instead of walking home with the books, we'll just scan their barcodes, and then wait to have them delivered a few days later by UPS. ----- (The Boston Globe web site is at globe.com )

To: Skeeter Bug who wrote (28404)	11/29/1998 3:26:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

YOUR MONEY HOME Some retailers see joy in world and bottom lines November 28, 1998 Increased volume hasn't lowered mutual fund fees November 21, 1998 Biotech stocks may soon live up to their potential November 14, 1998 Euro currency raises economic expectations November 07, 1998 Investors taking planners' advice to stand firm October 31, 1998 Keys to investing in technology: firm centered; belief and patience October 24, 1998 Party time will come again, but when? October 17, 1998 Stock-pickers needed as market tide recedes October 11, 1998 Greenspan keeps top billing on Wall Street stage October 04, 1998 Skepticism hovers over high-flying airline stocks September 27, 1998 Attractive yields give money funds favored status September 20, 1998 Investors seek place to park with a lot of security September 13, 1998 Currency shifts deal mighty blows to global markets September 06, 1998 A down-and-down year August 31, 1998 Bonds gleam at prospect of lower interest rates August 30, 1998 Ride with these small caps August 24, 1998 Which corporate pieces will fill in oil picture puzzle? August 23, 1998 Call back later August 17, 1998 In volatile times, let the experts do the picking August 14, 1998 On the contrary August 10, 1998 Many routes can lead through sea of volatility August 07, 1998 Spooked by Asia effect? Go shopping August 02, 1998 SOME RETAILERS SEE JOY IN WORLD AND BOTTOM LINES By Andrew Leckey November 28, 1998 Happy holidays: A positive mental attitude bolstered by a reinvigorated stock market could give selected retailers just the shot in the arm they need to excel this holiday shopping season. Remember that the emphasis is on selected retailers. Some experts, for example, consider Family Dollar Stores, Federated Department Stores and Saks Holdings the most attractive stocks you could hope to find under this year's Christmas tree. Smart retailers have gone increasingly high-tech, using computerized tracking to cut costs and control inventory. They're masters of advertising, their powerful blitzes capable of emblazoning relatively new names such as Old Navy into the public consciousness. Consolidated into fewer, stronger players, the retailing industry is capitalizing on important underlying trends, such as the nationwide move toward more casual style. During a volatile period in which saving money is considered chic, it has learned that discount shoppers demand a wide range of quality merchandise. Ironically, just as many consumers squirrel away Christmas presents all year long and thereby take a bite out of traditional fourth-quarter sales, the growth of mail order and Internet shopping has made last-minute shopping easier than ever before. "Technology allowing retailers to better reduce costs and control inventory has put the industry in much better shape than it's been in for quite some time," asserted Wayne Hood, retail analyst with Prudential Securities in Atlanta. "Computerization is separating winners from losers." With discount retailers leading the way, Hood expects 4 percent growth in retail sales this holiday season, which is 1 percent less than a year ago. Stores specializing in apparel should prosper, he believes, while department stores can count on sales increases of only about 2 percent to 3 percent. "Department stores seem to have lost their excitement, while we're seeing very strong results from specialty retailers," noted Thomas Tashijian, retail analyst with NationsBanc Montgomery Securities in San Francisco. "In addition, discounters continue to widen their assortment of better quality goods and for the past several years have been effectively catering to aging Baby Boomers." Tashijian is forecasting a 4 percent to 5 percent gain in sales for general merchandisers, that relatively modest projection due to the fact that consumer income has slowed to around 4.9 percent. "Strong expense management has been saving the day for many companies, their earnings holding up despite some horrible sales results in the third quarter," observed Shari Eberts, retail analyst with J.P. Morgan Securities in New York. "We've seen consumer confidence perk up in November, and the stock market showing renewed strength should also help." A number of recent surveys do indicate that consumers are likely to spend most vigorously at discounters and specialty stores this holiday season, Eberts acknowledged. But, unlike the other analysts, she believes the much-maligned department stores have focused their businesses quite well toward the fourth quarter by emphasizing specific gift items. They may surprise some experts. "Some companies are benefiting from a stronger advertising presence, with, for example, Gap Inc. (which includes Old Navy among its divisions) spending up to 4.5 percent of sales on very strong advertising campaigns on television and in print," said Dorothy Lakner, retail analyst with CIBC Oppenheimer. Emerging from the near-disaster of third-quarter psychological, economic and market jitters, some retailing stocks show promise in the fourth quarter: - Family Dollar Stores, a low-end general merchandiser, is recommended by Hood and Tashijian due to the continuing popularity of bargain-hunting. - Federated Department Stores, capable of posting profit gains despite weak sales, is suggested by Eberts and Hood. - Saks Holdings, which now includes the Proffitt's and Carson Pirie Scott businesses, is a pick of Eberts and Tashijian. Despite tough sales comparisons for the fourth quarter compared with last year, it's capably controlling expenses. Andrew Leckey answers reader questions each Monday in Your Money.