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Technology Stocks : America On-Line (AOL) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank Ellis Morris who wrote (1439)	1/5/1999 6:08:00 AM
From: BomboochaBoy	Respond to of 41369

Internet Stock Death Reports Exaggerated thestreet.com By David Shabelman Staff Reporter 1/4/99 4:16 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO -- Internet stocks are showing few signs of a hangover as the new year begins. After sharp bouts of profit-taking at the end of last week, there was talk that the stock market's most favored sector could be in for a cooling as 1999 began. But as severe winter weather pummeled much of the country, high-tech stocks remained hot. TheStreet.com Internet Sector index today rose 6.84, or 1.7%, to 436.26. "There's no reason to think the mania is over," said Courtney Smith, chief investment officer of Orbitex Management. "I'm afraid the fever will continue until someone gets punished. If people are being rewarded for being crazy, they'll continue to be crazy." Many of the big names that soared at the end of 1998 are among the big gainers on the first day of 1999. Amazon.com (AMZN:Nasdaq) and uBid (UBID:Nasdaq) were among the day's biggest gainers. Amazon.com, which announced it had launched a co-branded store on SportsLine USA's (SPLN:Nasdaq) Web site, rocketed 33 3/4, or 10.5%, to 354 15/16. UBid soared 27 5/16, or 25.6%, to 134 1/16. The online retailers were undoubtedly helped by a report from America Online (AOL:NYSE) that subscribers had spent $1.2 billion on online purchases over the holidays. Smith said it may take as much as two years for the bubble to burst, and it will likely come about as the market is flooded with Internet offerings so that supply exceeds demand. But rather than investing in some of the stocks that have grabbed the headlines for doubling and tripling in price, Smith prefers the Ciscos (CSCO:Nasdaq) and MCI WorldComs (WCOM:Nasdaq), which provide Internet infrastructure. He has around $70 million of the $1.2 billion in Orbitex funds invested in high tech. "This is like the California Gold Rush," he said. "The guys mining for gold didn't make money -- it was the guys selling the picks and the pans that made money."