Amazon Rise Defies the Odds

Amazon.com , known for its useful innovations, seems to have a new invention: A magical device that can cause its stock to defy gravity.

Over the past three months, Amazon's stock has risen the furthest of the big four Internet companies, up 43% as of Friday, compared with gains of 41% and 29%, respectively, for eBay and Google and a 1% decline for Yahoo! .

All four stocks are up since they began reporting third-quarter earnings a few weeks ago. Google has delivered another stronger-than-expected quarter, while eBay showed it's handling near-term challenges with its usual skill.

Even Yahoo! has managed to claw its way back from what had been an 18-month low, by declaring that a search upgrade that could make it more competitive with Google was on track for an early 2007 rollout. ...