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Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
Email Alert Internet Daily for Friday, December 21, 2001 by Frank Barnako CBS MarketWatch.com Bargain hunters drive online sales A sharp and unexpected rush to online shopping sites has occurred, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. The number of visitors to sites surveyed by the company last week, 52.3 million, was 55% greater than the number last year, said Charles Buchwalter of Jupiter. By contrast, year-over-year growth rates declined each week last year as the holiday neared. That has not been the case this year. "That translates into a holiday season where the majority of online shopping activity occurs closer to Christmas," he said. "Many consumers waited until late in the holiday season to make their gift purchases, and many were searching for late-season discounts," said Jared Blank, another Jupiter Research analyst. He also said consumers have increased confidence about online sites' ability to deliver merchandise quickly. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Web draws "Spiderman" fans On the heels of this week's report that half of all online shopping occurs at work, office PCs are also turning out to be terrific movie preview theaters. Almost a million office workers were drawn to Apple Computer's movie preview Web site last week where they could see the trailer to "Spiderman." "By releasing trailers on the Web, movie studios can reach a broader audience, said Jarvis Mak, a senior analyst at NielsenNetratings, Reuters reported. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Abby gets wired The U.S. military has adapted the annual Dear Abby season's greetings messages service for members of the U.S. military from snail mail to email. OperationDearAbby.net has changed from a postal service, hobbled several weeks ago by the anthrax scare, into an electronic bulletin board. More than a million messages have already been handled, according to Reuters. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Orbitz under microscope, again The Department of Transportation has been ordered to conduct another investigation of Orbitz, the online travel service backed by five major airlines. The probe is required by the transportation spending bill approved recently by Congress. The law's language suggests Congress is concerned that the airlines' service may reduce competition for ticket sales. A spokeswoman for Orbitz told ZDNet news that her company is angry. "It's outrageous that our competition would call in a political favor with the goal of harassing a competitor," said Carol Jousaitis. Several federal investigations of Orbitz have been conducted previously, she said. ----------------------------------------------------------------- MSN Asia beefs up sales Microsoft Corp.'s MSN in Asia unit has added 10 advertising sales people in the past six months, according to The Wall Street Journal. The unit's regional sales manager, Robin Fern, indicated MSN is pitching Old Economy companies including consumer products manufacturers and financial institutions. ----------------------------------------------------------------- For late-breaking market news you can't afford to miss, go to http://CBS.MarketWatch.com/ ================================================================ LOGIN to access your account: https://investing.schwab.com/trading/start ---------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe or modify your Email Alert customization options, log in using the link below or copy and paste it into your browser's address window: https://investing.schwab.com/trading/start?SANC=EAMyAlerts ---------------------------------------------------------------- Notice: All email sent to or from the Charles Schwab corporate email system may be retained, monitored and/or reviewed by Schwab personnel. (0801-11478) Copyright 2001 CBS MarketWatch. All rights reserved. Commercial use or redistribution in any form, printed or electronic, is prohibited. Distribution by Quris, Inc.
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