eBay Experience Bodes Ill for Amazon.com

Updated from July 21

Long-term Amazon (AMZN Quote) shareholders may well be holding their breath awaiting the company's earnings report after the close Thursday, especially after seeing the market's reaction to eBay's (EBAY Quote) report.

No matter how good a report Amazon issues, the company's stock is likely to take a beating, if recent trends are any indication. And if the company has bad news for the market, it could get ugly. Perhaps in anticipation, Amazon shares were recently down 69 cents, or 1.5%, to $44.07.

In fact, nimble traders might think about shorting Amazon going into the earnings call, said Scott Rothbort, president of LakeView Asset Management and a contributor to TheStreet.com's sister site Street Insight.

"Maybe they do well, but the market doesn't receive it well," Rothbort said. "It's been a very, very difficult market."

eBay was only the latest company to find that out.

Although the online auction giant beat the Street's earnings estimates by 3 cents a share, investors sold off its stock after its report on Wednesday, presumably in reaction to the company's guidance, which was below analysts' expectations. The company's shares were recently down 70 cents, or 0.9%, to $75.90 after trading as low as $71.45 earlier in the session.

Last week, it was Netflix (NFLX Quote) that got taken to task. The online movie rental company has seen its share price fall more than 38% since it posted a mixed earnings report on Thursday. Earlier in the month, investors took their frustrations out on Yahoo!. Shares in the online media (YHOO Quote) have dropped nearly 15% since it issued disappointing guidance with its quarterly update on July 7.

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