Hot Net Names Take Off, Lifting the DOT

Did it really feel like a short week to anybody?

TheStreet.com Internet Sector

index closed up 17.22, or 1.5%, at 1162.30. Considering it began the week at 1108.59, the nearly 54-point move does not seem like a big deal.

But there was much volatility in the sector, and while traditional Net stocks that make up the DOT were marginally higher, other hot

B2B plays and members of

TheStreet.com New Tech 30 took off.

VerticalNet

(VERT)

was off to the moon, finishing up 56 7/16, or 29.2%, at 252 1/16 on news of a $100 million investment from

Microsoft

(MSFT) - Get Report

. Under the terms of the agreement, Microsoft will provide Web distribution for VerticalNet, which operates more than 50 portals aimed at specific industries. Following the news,

Lehman Brothers

, which has done underwriting for VerticalNet, upped its price target on the stock to 350 from 170.

Other stocks to feed off investor enthusiasm for B2B included

Akamai

(AKAM) - Get Report

, which closed up 33 3/8, or 14.2%, at 269;

Sycamore Networks

(SCMR)

, which ended up 34 3/8, or 14.1%, at 280; and

Juniper Networks

(JNPR) - Get Report

, which finished up 33, or 28.2%, at 149 15/16.

Many of the day's big movers revolved around earnings news, most all of it positive.

Inktomi

(INKT)

closed up 11 7/8, or 11.9%, at 112 9/16 after besting earnings estimates and receiving positive comments from analysts. And

Kana Communications

(KANA)

added 8 1/4 points to the 38 it was up yesterday, closing up 4.1% at 208 1/4.

Excite@Home

(ATHM) - Get Report

matched estimates when it announced a break-even quarter but still closed down 2 3/8, or 5.6%, at 40 1/4.

There also was some news that broke late today, including a report on

CNBC

that

Amazon.com

(AMZN) - Get Report

was weighing the prospects of a $1 billion stock or convertible offering. Amazon dropped around 2:30 p.m. EST when the report was made and closed down 2 3/4, or 4.3%, at 62 1/16.

Healtheon/WebMD

(HLTH)

had a wild ride, trading as high as 64 5/16 following a positive analysts' report from

Gruntal & Co.

, but then slipped late in the day after

CNBC

insinuated that gains were based on takeover rumors that were untrue. It finished up 9 1/8, or 18.1%, at 59 9/16. Gruntal began coverage of Healtheon with medium- and long-term outperform ratings, saying the company was undervalued relative to its peers.