Tag - Inet

Small-cap stocks extended the rally into midday trading, powered by ideas recent government plans to pour billions of dollars into banking institutions, while mopping up toxic debt with taxpayer coffers would right the ship in equities and avert an even deeper global economic downturn. Other Market Watch highlights today include:

• Financial stocks are among the best performers.
• The poorest performers were real estate investment trusts, homebuilders and regional banks.
• Crude oil prices are up nearly $4 a barrel, gaining a lift from the rally in equity markets around the world.
• Year to date the Russell index is off 31.8%, seven percentage points less than the S&P 500's 38.8% decline.
• Much of the hope for a bottom is tied to a thaw in lending practices and the credit market is closed today for the Columbus Day holiday.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Targa Resources Partners (Nasdaq:NGLS) shares spiked 30% after the natural gas company said it will buy back $50 million in shares.
• Shares of GTx (Nasdaq:GTXI) soar 30% after the biopharma firm says phase II clinical trial for cancer induced muscle loss succeeded.
• Tesoro (NYSE:TSO) issues third-quarter earnings guidance above the Street. Shares surge 22%.
• A-Power Energy (Nasdaq:APWR) jumps 24% on reaffirmed third-quarter . . .

Spinning an identity and driving traffic at one website is difficult enough for many companies, but Internet Brands (Nasdaq:INET) finds security in numbers.

The El Segundo, Calif., company squeezes value out of underutilized websites. Internet Brands has been public for less than a year, with its stock bouncing around November’s lowered IPO price of $8, a starting point for the 48 million shares that was one-third less than the company’s stated expectations of $12.

Two analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters have Internet Brands as a “buy” or “strong buy,” and believe shares will rise; their median price target is $12.

Shares hit an intraday high of $9.44 on Feb. 7, but sank to $5.37 on July 30, ahead of Internet Brands’ reporting of second-quarter results. On Monday, Internet Brands closed at $6.91.

Internet Brands is a media company operating in the new age of consumer-driven content. While the business models of search engines such as Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) or Yahoo! (Nasdaq:YHOO) reach out on a horizontal plane, Internet Brands is a vertical Web proprietor, drilling down to specific consumer needs and interests.

Many of Internet Brands’ sites were acquired over the past few years and fall into five categories: automotive, travel and leisure, shopping and consumer electronics, home and employment. Its network includes autos.com and apartmentratings.com, along with others that deliver electronic coupons to savvy shoppers, or help freelancers and stay-at-home moms find work. Shopping and employment are recent additions, and management has indicated that it might enter another vertical next year.

Jefferies & Co. analyst Youssef Squali calls the Internet Brands strategy . . .