Enron Mail

From:media_grok@reply.thestandard.com
To:alewis@ect.enron.com
Subject:MEDIA GROK: Amazon Gets a Stocking Stuffer
Cc:
Bcc:
Date:Mon, 11 Dec 2000 02:24:00 -0800 (PST)

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THE INDUSTRY STANDARD'S
M E D I A G R O K
A Review of Press Coverage of the Internet Economy
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| http://www.thestandard.com |

Monday, December 11, 2000

TOP GROKS:
* Amazon gets a stocking stuffer
* Markets beg Florida for mercy
* Iridium won't get rid of 'em

MORE NEWS:
* Index Compiler Moves the Goalposts


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TOP GROKS
~~~~~~~~~
Amazon Gets a Stocking Stuffer

Lucky Amazon doesn't have to wait for the Supreme Court to solve its
market woes. That's because a Wall Street analyst worked undercover
for a day at one of the uber-bookseller's distribution centers and
then - what to our wondering eyes should appear - reiterated his "buy"
recommendation on Amazon's stock. It really is the season of miracles!

According to the Financial Times, Credit Suisse First Boston analyst
Jamie Kiggen put in a few hours working in Amazon's Delaware
distribution center and then penned this sunny conclusion: "While our
presence there suggests the hiring process could be tightened up a
bit, we were struck by the high level of energy and morale among
warehouse management and workers alike." Busy bees are happy bees.
Kiggen's stint apparently didn't coincide with one of the six or so
all-hands meetings that the New York Times reported Amazon held
recently to, among other things, squelch unionizing efforts.

You'd think journos might give extra scrutiny to Kiggen's dot-com gig,
given the recent brouhaha over the New Yorker's similarly themed piece
in its Nov. 27 issue. Writer Rodney Rothman was supposedly aiming for
humor, not analysis, when he wrote about his stint working for a
Silicon Alley dot-com, according to coverage on the Web site Media
News. But in a move that has left journos debating the merits of
undercover gigs, he neglected to tell the New Yorker that his mother
worked for the firm he infiltrated. And that office massage he wrote
so descriptively of? Never really got it. Literary license, you know.

But outlets were glowing about Kiggen's undercover gig. CNNfn, which
broke the "news," speculated that Kiggen and the other CS First Boston
analysts who cover Amazon "may have set a new precedent this week for
just how far researchers will go to obtain information on a company."
The Financial Times enthused about Kiggen's ingenuity "in an era when
investors often criticise analysts for being spoon-fed by the
companies they cover." And, boy, did Kiggen gather some terrific
intelligence. According to the Financial Times, Kiggen's experience in
the Delaware warehouse, which handles as much as 25 percent of
Amazon's orders, "suggested that the company was 'highly likely' to
meet or exceed fourth-quarter revenue estimates of $1 billion." All
this from an eight-hour stint! We guess we at Media Grok just don't
know how to use our time as wisely.

For his part, Kiggen could use a boost for his media profile. He
missed being named to Fortune's "all-star analysts" team, but did get
pegged for Business Week's piece on Net analysts' fall from grace.
Business Week reported criticism of Kiggen's "'lifetime value of a
customer' metrics used to justify his bullish Amazon calls" and
included the mention in a paragraph on "voodoo valuation." Such
paganism applied to a man who truly knows what it means to give.
- Deborah Asbrand

Spying on Amazon
http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2000/12/08/companies/amazon/index.htm

Analyst Kiggen Dons Warehouse Apparel For Undercover Stint at
Amazon.com
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB976496725775080568.htm
(Paid subscription required.)

Undercover Inquiry Brings Christmas Cheer to E-tailers
http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/articles.html?id=001209001682&;query=
Kiggen

All-Star Analysts
http://www.fortune.com/fortune/allstars/list.html

The Fall of the Net Analyst
http://www.businessweek.com/2000/00_50/b3711182.htm


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Markets Beg Florida for Mercy

For a month now, the market has let itself be led around by the nose
by the seesawing fortunes of the presidential contenders in Florida.
When Bush is up, the market follows. When Gore's chances rise, the
market scowls. Friday was no exception. Around the time of the closing
bell, the Florida Supreme Court ordered "an immediate manual recount"
of undervotes in all Florida counties. "Stock index futures and some
shares slumped" according to CBS MarketWatch's Martin Cej and Chris
Kraeuter.

Saturday morning brought the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling that stopped
the recounts, and with it some sigh of relief from investors. The
Sunday night press was uncharacteristically optimistic, looking for
signs that the uncertainty was close to ending. David Boies, former
Microsoft slasher and Napster booster and now attorney for Gore, told
Fox News that it could be "the end of the road."

Bloomberg's Monday morning report from Tokyo went further, reporting
that U.S. stocks were up, Treasury bonds down as Bush was seen to be
the winner. "It looks like we will know who the next president is,"
Xinyi Lu, chief strategist at Tokai Bank, told Bloomberg. "A Bush
victory is bad for bonds because it's good for stocks.''

Whichever way it goes, it can't wrap up soon enough for financiers who
despise indecision. "Until America learns how to run a democracy, the
market can go nowhere," said Robin Griffiths, chief technical analyst
at HSBC Securities on CBS MarketWatch. Nowhere, that is, except for
two places it often goes: up and down. - David Sims

Nasdaq Lifts, Dow Steady
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/current/snapshot.htx

Another Week of Election Turmoil
http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/20001209/news/current/snapshot.htx

Supreme Court May Lift Market's Gloom (Reuters)
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20001210/bs/markets_stocks_dc_946.html

High Court May Ease Market Anxiety (Reuters)
http://www.msnbc.com/news/501406.asp

U.S. Stock Futures Rise, Bonds Fall as Bush Win Seen (Bloomberg)
http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Top%20Financial%20News&s1=blk&tp=a
d_topright_topfin&refer=topfin&T=markets_bfgcgi_content99.ht&s2=blk&bt=ad_posi
tion1_topfin&middle=ad_frame2_topfin&s=AOjRtexRvVS5TLiBT


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Iridium Won't Get Rid of 'Em

Remember all that space junk that was supposed to burn up in the
atmosphere when Motorola nudged its Iridium satellites into re-entry?
Turns out, NASA didn't think quite everything would burn up after all:
titanium fuel tanks, batteries, electronic control panels - these are
dense enough to make it through and find a home on land or in the sea.
In fact, Reuters discovered that NASA estimated back in April that
each bird had a 1 in 18,405 chance of striking one of Earth's 6
billion human residents, and that chance grew to 1 in 249 for all 74
spacecraft combined. Not a sure thing, but those aren't lottery
numbers, either.

It's all academic now, at least for a few years. The Pentagon stepped
in last week with an agreement to pay the $3 million each month it
takes to keep the constellation flying, at least for another two
years. It signed the deal with Iridium Satellite, the company that
took over the assets of the original company when it filed for
bankruptcy protection this year.

Iridium was planned as a global phone system for jet-setters who need
to stay in touch wherever their romps take them on the planet. But the
company's expensive handsets (originally $3,000) and costly service
(up to $7 per minute) doomed the service to all except those who
really needed it - oil-rig crews, transoceanic yachstmen and CNN
reporters. Everyone else found that GSM phones get you most of what
you want for a fraction of the price.

But it turns out the Pentagon has plenty of folks who need satellite
phones, particularly in the Navy. Iridium "will provide a commercial
alternative to our purely military systems," Dave Oliver, principal
deputy under secretary of defense for acquisitions, technology and
logistics, told Reuters. There were other reasons, too. Reuters also
reported that a U.S. interagency group was nervous about public
reaction to 74 satellites coming down in 14 months. The group wrote
that this "might create widespread anxiety and lead to a public outcry
for ill-considered government action."

For $3 million per month, the Defense Department bought some time to
figure out what to do: In their current orbits, the satellites won't
fall to earth for about 108 years. By then, however, the danger may be
even worse. As Nicholas Johnson, NASA program manager for orbital
debris, told Reuters, there will no doubt be more people on earth and
a thus higher chance that one of them could get hit. - David Sims

NASA: Satellite Odds of Hitting Someone 250-1 (Reuters)
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20001210/sc/tech_satellites_dc_2.html

Pentagon Signs Phone Deal With Iridium
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1004-200-4045594.html

Pentagon to Rescue Iridium (Reuters)
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,40600,00.html


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MORE NEWS AT THESTANDARD.COM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Index Compiler Moves the Goalposts
http://tm0.com/thestandard/sbct.cgi?s=64349541&;i=284013&d=719698

Vodafone May Take Stake in Japan Telecom
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RealNetworks Gives Microsoft an iQ Test
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Recording Industry Scores Copyright Win
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MP3.com's Happier Tune
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---------------------------------------------------------------------


MORE LINKS
~~~~~~~~~~
FTC Nears Approval of AOL-Time Warner Merger
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52758-2000Dec10.html

WAP Field Study Findings
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20001210.html

The Final Vote: Canal Plus Shareholders Approve Vivendi-Universal
Merger
http://www.inside.com/jcs/Story?article_id=17454&pod_id=10

How to Narrow Vivendi's Giant Discount
http://www.breakingviews.com/ve.asp?sid=908&;aid=1102&lid=3
(Registration required.)

Lessons From the Online Rubble
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/11/technology/11ECOMMERCE.html
(Registration required.)

Automated Programs Slow E-tail Sites (AP)
http://www0.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/726095l.htm

As AT&T's Stock Slips, Takeover Rumors Swirl
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB976483701280382049.htm
(Paid subscription required.)

SBC Straddling the Old and New
http://www0.mercurycenter.com/business/top/078176.htm

Jeeves' Wrubel: 'Don't Ask!'
http://www.nypost.com/12092000/business/18143.htm


STAFF
~~~~~
Written by Deborah Asbrand (dasbrand@world.std.com), Keith Dawson
(dawson@world.std.com), Michelle Goldberg (michelle@shift.com), Jen
Muehlbauer (jen@englishmajor.com) and David Sims (davesims@sonic.net).

Edited by Jimmy Guterman (guterman@vineyard.com).

Copyedited by Jim Duffy (jduffy@thestandard.com).

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