Benchmark On The Internet Sector

Benchmark has downgraded the Internet sector from Overweight to Market Weight and core internet holdings currently are believed to be Expedia EXPE, Google GOOG and Priceline.com PCLN. In the report, Benchmark writes "The Internet Holdings Company Depositary Receipts Index HHH gained 9% thus far in 2010 and has slightly exceeded the overall US stock market which saw the S&P 500 Index (^GSC) and the NASDAQ Composite (^IXIC) up 5% and 7%, respectively. Modest economic recovery combined with steady market share gains and financial flow-through propelled the outperformance of Internet stocks. However, the economy slowed in 3Q10, consumer confidence remains low and comparables are tougher in 2H10 compared to 1H10. As a result, we believe the acceleration of growth rates has passed." Companies related to this report include: Google GOOG Buy Amazon AMZN Hold eBay EBAY Hold GSI Commerce GSIC Hold Priceline PCLN Buy Expedia EXPE Buy Orbitz OWW Buy Blue Nile NILE Sell InfoSpace INSP Buy ValueClick VCLK Buy AOL AOL Hold Yahoo YHOO Hold Equinix EQIX Buy Terremark TMRK Buy Savvis SVVS Hold Rackspace RAX Hold IAC IACI Hold Marchex MCHX Hold OpenTable OPEN Hold Microsoft MSFT not rated