Online giants get even bigger

NEWS Internet stocks have confounded the analysts again following big rises for Amazon.com, AOL and Broadcast.com. Industry watchers have long claimed that Net stocks are overvalued, but last week's slight dip in the value of online traders shares has not taken the shine off the big names. Yesterday AOL shares gained 14 per cent and Amazon.com shares rose by 15 per cent. Broadcast.com - a provider of streaming media services - prompted a 44 per cent jump with a 2-for-1 stock split. Jonathan Steele, a consultant at Internet research group Bathwick, said: "Analyst predictions that it will end are constantly being proved wrong because these stocks just keep rising. It's crazy, Amazon is now worth more than the Sears Group." But Steele added that the inflated prices could not last and claimed many "foolhardy" traders are set to lose vast amounts of money.