Articles by Nora Macaluso

Bank of America and BroadVisiona provider of personalized e-business applications, announced Monday that they are forming a new company to develop customized business-to-employee (B2E) portals for corporate intranets Through the portals, employees will be able to access internal information -- including workplace communications, benefits informatio...

At a time when most Internet companies are staying out of financial markets, online auto dealer CarsDirect.com, Inc. has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to sell shares in an initial public offering CarsDirect, based in Los Angeles, plans to sell $175.2 million (US$) worth of stock at a price yet to be determined. Procee...

America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL) and AutoNation, Inc. (NYSE: AN) announced plans Monday to form what the companies claim will be the world's largest virtual car dealership AutoNation, the largest auto dealer in the U.S., and its licensees will be the exclusive retailers of new and used vehicles to AOL members who purchase cars through the co-brande...

Online trading giant E*Trade Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGRP) announced Thursday that it is partnering with discount retailer Target Corp. to place financial service centers in SuperTarget stores across the United States The brokerage hopes to gain market share by providing real world access to its services without investing in its own brick-and-mortar l...

Value America, Inc. (Nasdaq: VUSA) announced Thursday that it has received an equity investment of $90 million (US$) from two separate groups, putting the troubled e-tailer on track to reach profitability in 2002 The company also reported a narrower loss for the first quarter, saying cost-cutting measures taken in December helped results.

Despite a precipitous decline in shareholder confidence in the Internet sector, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) says that a record $22.7 billion (US$) was invested in start-ups during the first quarter of 2000, a 266 percent increase over 1999 totals The number of companies receiving funding also rose, with 1,557 benefiting from ven...

Online brokerages saw record growth during the first quarter, as assets in accounts held by the firms topped $1 trillion (US$), according to a new report from U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray. New accounts rose by more than 2.5 million during the quarter, the report found E*Trade Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: EGRP) was the industry leader in terms of growth, addi...

Peapod, Inc. (Nasdaq: PPOD) reported higher sales but a wider loss for the first quarter Wednesday, as new investor Royal Ahold NV announced a new chief executive for the money-losing online grocer The Dutch supermarket chain said Marc van Gelder will serve as the online grocer's new president and chief executive officer. Van Gelder comes to Peapod...

CDNow, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDNW) reported Tuesday that its first quarter loss narrowed from a year earlier, as the company added 440,000 new customers and revenue nearly doubled Recognizing that its shares are trading 90 percent below their all-time high, the online music retailer also unveiled a new operating plan designed to cut expenses by more than $...

While more than two-thirds of online buyers participate in some type of customer loyalty program, only 22 percent regard the programs as a key factor driving their online purchases, according to a study by Jupiter Communications The survey of 1,200 U.S. online consumers found that more people -- 40 percent -- place a higher value on easy returns. C...

Ending the first U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) case focusing on Internet auto lease ads, car dealers in Colorado, New York and Pennsylvania have settled charges that they ran deceptive lease advertisements on the Internet The FTC had charged the dealers and their principals with violations of federal law in failing to disclose the true costs ...

Despite posting a revenue decline in consecutive quarters, e-tail giant Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) reported better-than-expected financial results for the first quarter Wednesday Amazon reported a first-quarter pro forma net loss of $122 million (US$), or 35 cents a share, compared with a loss of $36 million, or 12 cents, in the same quarter last ye...

Powered by sales topping $1 billion (US$), online auctioneer eBay, Inc. (Nasdaq: EBAY) reported stronger-than-expected results for the first quarter Tuesday and announced a 2-for-1 stock split eBay shares jumped in early trading Wednesday, rising 7 11/16 to 161 1/4. Over the past year, the stock has traded as high as 255 and as low as 70 17/64.

Continuing a strong first quarter showing by e-commerce companies in 2000, name-your-price pioneer Priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) reported results Monday that topped both analysts' expectations and year-earlier figures. Revenue jumped 535 percent to $313.8 million (US$) The Stamford, Connecticut-based company sells airline tickets, hotel rooms, autom...

Earnings reports for the quarter ended March 31st are beginning to trickle in, and most e-commerce companies' results are beating analysts' expectations Of the 31 Internet companies that have reported so far, 29 came in ahead of estimates, one on target, and one below, according to First Call. Though the research firm does not break out e-commerce ...

According to a recent poll by the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Business Economics (NABE), three out of five businesses are currently using e-commerce for buying or selling activities, but questions about the long-term outlook remain "The adoption of e-commerce for both purchasing and selling is a fairly recent phenomenon, with mos...

A surge in Asia-Pacific e-commerce will culminate with $1.6 trillion (US$) in transactions taking place in 2004, according to a new study by Forrester Research The $1.6 trillion figure will make the region a powerhouse in the overall global Internet economy, said Stuart D. Woodring, vice president of research for emerging Internet economies at Forr...

Despite a general market rebound after last week's massive sell-off, many analysts are saying that e-commerce stocks -- particularly consumer issues -- are unlikely to recoup their losses any time soon The Nasdaq Composite Index posted its biggest point gain ever Monday, closing up 217.76 at 3,539.05 after an up-and-down session. On a percentage ba...

Holland-based Royal Ahold plucked beleaguered online grocer Peapod from the edge of bankruptcy Friday, pledging to buy 51 percent of the Skokie, Illinois-based firm. Peapod will remain a stand-alone company, while Ahold will supply goods and services, including the use of its network of warehouses and distribution centers The $73 million (US$) cash...

By the middle of next year, the main venue for Internet access will be through wireless devices, according to a new study by International Data Corp. (IDC) "IDC predicts that by mid-2001, all digital cellular/PCS handsets shipped in the world will be WAP-capable," said Iain Gillot, vice president of worldwide consumer and small business telecommuni...