From: Adam Rifkin (Adam@KnowNow.Com)
Date: Wed Aug 30 2000 - 13:46:16 PDT
[As has happened every year since 1996, sentiment for Internet sector
"bellwether" stocks seems to be shifting again, though the damage this year
could take longer to repair since The Internut Crash Of 2000 was far worse
than any of the previous sector crashes in 1996-1999. It's unclear whether
news like Amazon invading France is enough to tilt the Internet sector
sentiment enough for another running of the bulls, but with Amazon and CMGi
making solid gains on great volume, it looks like institutions are readying
themselves just in case... look, Rimpy, CMGi is only down 66% on the year
now that it's up 13% today "in sympathy" for the AMZN move... :]
AMZN lifts Internet stocks --3:13 pm - By Michael Baron -- Amazon.com's
(AMZN: news, msgs) impressive performance Wednesday is giving indexes
tracking the Internet sector a boost in late trading. The CBOE Internet
index ($INX: news, msgs) is adding 4.3 percent to 575.63 while the Goldman
Sachs Internet index ($GIN: news, msgs) is up 3.3 percent to 472.44.
Amazon.com is 3 1/4, or 8.2 percent, higher at 42 7/8 after Goldman Sachs
issued some positive comments on the online retailer [see 10:59 am item].
Other top performers include Real Networks (RNWK: news, msgs), jumping 3,
or 6.6 percent, to 48 3/4; Inktomi Corp. (INKT: news, msgs), adding 7, or
5.9 percent, to 126 3/16; and CMGI (CMGI: news, msgs), surging 4 1/8, or
10.2 percent, to 44 3/4. More info at:
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/current/euronetdaily.htx
Blodget likes Amazon's French move
Plus: London barber goes from Dickens to dot-com
By Liza Roberts, CBS MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 12:35 PM ET Aug 30, 2000
LONDON (CBS.MW) -- Henry Blodget is giving his blessing to Amazon's
international move. The influential Internet analyst at Merrill Lynch said
Wednesday he approves of Amazon.com's much-anticipated entry into France,
and its international push generally, is a logical growth area.
"We expect international to be a significant growth area for Amazon in the
coming years as e-commerce accelerates worldwide, possibly to as much as 50
percent of total revenue in the next five years," Blodget wrote in a
research note.
That's not so tough to imagine when you consider the company itself is only
five years old, and that it's got a good head start in the region with
successful U.K. and German sites that generated almost $150 million in
revenue in the first six months of the year.
"While the success of the French site is not guaranteed - merchandising and
marketing for U.S. companies in foreign markets can often be difficult -
Amazon is already by far the largest e-commerce company in Europe, so we
believe success in France is likely," Blodget added.
He predicts Amazon's French site will generate "approximately" $75 million
to $100 million in revenue next year, and lose about $25 million. That
would represent around 25 percent of Amazon's total estimated operating
loss of $99 million in 2001.
By Blodget's math, the online bookselling behemoth has already racked up
some losses due to French launch costs: about $3 million to $4 million of
the company's operating losses in the last quarter were probably
attributable to the new site, he said.
Despite his bullish predictions for the company's overseas efforts, Blodget
doesn't expect the news of the French launch to have a "significant"
near-term effect on Amazon's stock or its business, and he's not changing
revenue estimates.
Still, he says Amazon's strategy "is evolving toward being a one-stop,
worldwide shopping destination," which Blodget describes as "a good thing."
Also, he sees some light at the end of the tunnel for the company's shares.
Amazon "will benefit from improving investor sentiment as we approach the
holiday season -- e-commerce, beleaguered though it is, is real, and Amazon
is the clear leader." Blodget rates the shares "accumulate."
From Dickens to Dot-com
It's an old-fashioned barbershop, but don't expect the swirly spiral-pole
behind a greasy window, or dog-eared back issues of God-knows-what
magazines inside.
No, this place is a whole lot spiffier than that, and a whole lot older,
too. It's actually the oldest barber's business in the world. The Guinness
Book of World Records said so in April of this year.
Truefitt & Hill was founded 195 years ago by William Francis Truefitt, a
man named with Dickensian perfection who was a wig-fitter for King George
III. In fact, his Old Bond Street barber shop to the gentry even got a
mention in Dickens' Uncommercial Traveler.
Winston Churchill and Frank Sinatra had their locks lopped off at the
storied place, Titanic travelers bought the shop's tonics for their
ill-fated voyage, and Field Marshall Montgomery was known to slap on
Truefitt & Hill lotion even in his WWII bunker.
Today, Truefitt & Hill lives on at its current St. James's Street location
in central London, attracting the likes of Prince Philip with its
no-nonsense trims and fancy old-fashioned brushes and pomades.
And now, Truefitt & Hill is moving from Dickens to dot-com, with a
partnership to sell its "exclusive gentlemen's toiletries and shaving
accessories" on the EnglishHall.com site for luxury British goods. The site
went live last year.
For 5 pounds ($7.50), Web shoppers can pick up a simple bar of soap; for
200 pounds ($300), a pair of "luxury brushes" can be had.
Dennis Hornsby, manager at the shop, said the move is a chance to extend
his company's reputation around the world. "Just like any other business,
we look to the future as well as savouring the past."
---- Adam@KnowNow.ComMarco Polo describes a bridge, stone by stone. "But which is the stone that supports the bridge?" Kublai Khan asks. "The bridge is not supported by one stone or another," Marco answers, "but by the line of the arch that they form." Kublai Khan remains silent, reflecting. Then he adds: "Why do you speak to me of the stones? It is only the arch that matters to me." Polo answers: "Without stones there is no arch." -- Italo Calvino, _Invisible Cities_
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