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

To: Olu Emuleomo who wrote (30298)	12/17/1998 10:20:00 AM
From: H James Morris	Respond to of 164684

From today's WSJ. >>INTERNET SALES may prove to be quite tax-sensitive, says an economist. If consumers were expected to pay existing sales taxes on Web purchases, the number of buyers would drop by 25% and the amount of spending would drop by 30%, according to research by Austan Goolsbee, an economics professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Prof. Goolsbee studied the purchasing habits of 25,000 online users. He controlled for variables such as income and education level and focused on taxes. "I was trying to figure out how important taxes and price are in buying decisions," he says. He concludes Internet sales are "highly sensitive" to taxes, since people in high-tax areas buy more on the Web. Earlier this year, Congress approved a three-year moratorium on taxing Web sales. Prof. Goolsbee admits that there are other reasons for using the Web, such as convenience, and that the debate on taxing Web sales will continue.<<

To: Olu Emuleomo who wrote (30298)	12/17/1998 10:28:00 AM
From: H James Morris	Respond to of 164684

I love this stocks volatility. Not its business model. >>BLOOMBERG NEWS December 17, 1998 SEATTLE -- Shares of Amazon.com Inc. surged 19 percent yesterday after an analyst predicted that the No. 1 online bookseller's stock will reach $400 in 12 months. The stock, which had already soared more than eightfold this year, rocketed an additional $46.25 to $289 in trading of almost 17.0 million. That gives the company -- which has yet to make a profit -- a market value of $15.2 billion. Amazon.com shares have skyrocketed on investor enthusiasm for almost any company with a Web site. Amazon.com has at least quadrupled its revenue every quarter this year, though it's still pouring millions into advertising and hasn't yet turned a profit in the highly competitive business of peddling books, CDs and videocassettes over the Internet. "The insanity goes on and on," said David Simons, managing director of New York-based Digital Video Investments, an institutional research company. CIBC Oppenheimer analyst Henry Blodget, who made the $400-a-share forecast, wasn't available for comment. Amazon.com's losses are expected to reach $1.71 a share next year from $1.62 this year, according to the average estimate of analysts. Amazon.com's investors are paying about $165 for every dollar the company has lost during the past 12 months, based on yesterday's closing stock price. Seattle-based Amazon.com's market value now matches that of Caterpillar, the largest maker of construction equipment. Amazon.com reported third-quarter revenue of $153.7 million, compared with Caterpillar's third-quarter revenue of $5.17 billion.<<