Net Sector Ends a Rough Week, Closing up Marginally Today

They say there's no rest for the weary, but the weary can finally rest this long weekend. And they'll need the extra time to lick their wounds.

The Nasdaq ended little changed on the day, but down for the week. It closed down 0.24 points at 3205.11 after beginning the week a little south of 3400. TheStreet.com Internet Sector Index, or DOT, managed to post a small 5.46-point gain to 752.23, but still lost around 70 points on the week.

William Keithler, portfolio manager for the $7.2 billion (FTCHX)Invesco Technology Fund, said it was "extremely difficult" to time the market and he was not trying to do it. Keithler did say he has been participating in the "buyers' strike" that the market has seen of late, nibbling on some occasions, but not much.

Keithler said it appeared as if the market was attempting to "find some footing," if not at current levels, then not much further down. After the close on Thursday, he said he anticipated another 10% to 15% decline at most. "Obviously it's painful in the short term," he said, "but we're getting close to the 'too late to sell levels.' "

Keithler said when the sector is going through a valuation correction -- as it is now -- it's tough to "find a palce to hide," so he would be investing in "higher-quality market leaders" that have "established situations, rather than 'it sounds like a great idea, we'll prove the business model in 2002.' "

"What you do in times like this is put together a shopping list of those companies that you want to buy when market conditions are more conducive to that, and set some price targets you would feel comfortable with even if the market is not ready yet," he said.

Keithler said he would not be surprised if the market overshot on the downside, but said fundamentals in the tech sector really have not changed and the valuation correction was close to being done.

Among today's movers, DoubleClick (DCLK) ended down 4 7/16, or 10%, at 41 1/8; FreeMarkets (FMKT) fell 4 5/16, or 10.4%, at 37 1/4; i2 Technologies (ITWO) finished up 5 3/8, or 6%, at 95 1/2; eBay (EBAY) ended up 1 7/16, or 2.4%, at 61 15/16; and WebMethods (WEBM) finished up 1 13/16, or 2.7%, at 68.

Also, GoTo.com (GOTO) closed up 2, or 13%, at 17 1/8. The company announced that it had settled its trademark infringement suit against Walt Disney (DIS), which contended that Disney's Go.com logo was too similar to the GoTo.com logo. Under the agreement GoTo will receive $21.5 million and Disney has agreed to discontinue use of the Go Network logo and any others that resemble it.

Razorfish (RAZF) closed up 1 1/4, or 9%, at 15 following an analysts day yesterday. And Neoforma (NEOF), which announced yesterday that its merger with Eclipsys (ECLP) was called off, closed down 1 9/16, or 16%, at 7 15/16. WR Hambrecht lowered its rating on the online medical supply firm to neutral from buy.