Net Sector Rallies Ahead of Alan's Announcement

TheStreet.com Internet Sector index was up more than 12 points, though volume was light with the Fed meeting still in session.

Author:: David Shabelman
Publish date:: Oct 5, 1999 1:47 PM EDT

Investors in the Internet don't seem to care about Alan Greenspan, as a pre-Federal Reserve Open Market Committee decision rally was under way.

TheStreet.com Internet Sector

index was up 12.82, or 2.0%, at 668.43 in recent trading, though volume was apparently light with the Fed meeting still in session. Policymakers are expected to keep interest rates unchanged. An announcement is expected around 2:15 p.m. EDT.

Dan Marciano, head of equity trading with

First Albany

, said he would not be a buyer ahead of the Fed's decision. While the markets may greet an absence of change in Fed policy with some relief buying, he said he would expect sellers to emerge pretty quickly with the market up strong both today and yesterday. But, he added, he did not expect shorts to emerge en masse.

Marciano said the worst-case scenario from his perspective would be no tightening, but adoption of a tightening bias. He said that would continue to create uncertainty about what the Fed was going to do and would keep the market on edge for another month. With no tightening, he said he would let the market trade and wait to see what the money managers were going to do.

The Net sector also has more to worry about than the Fed.

Yahoo!

(YHOO)

reports earnings after the close Wednesday, and its stock is often bought ahead of good earnings, then sold after the report's release. But after trading lower Monday and opening weaker today, Yahoo! has bounced back and recently was trading up 4 3/4, or 3%, at 176 after trading as low as 167 3/4.

The most obvious clue that the Net sector is not concerned about the Fed? Online brokerages were on the rise. The brokerages are susceptible to changes in interest rates, as higher rates would likely lead to fewer trades, particularly if the market fell.

Among the online brokerages,

E*Trade

(EGRP)

was up 1 9/16, or 7%, at 24 7/8;

Ameritrade

(AMTD) - Get Report

was up 1 11/32, or 7.5%, at 19 3/16; and

Schwab

(SCH)

was up 1, or 3%, at 34 3/4.

Also,

Lycos