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CNNfn market movers
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October 8, 1998: 2:33 p.m. ET
Retailers throttled, Nets swamped, as Mecklermedia finds a savior from sell-off
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - In yet another dismal day on Wall Street, investors cast off cyberspace players, shed their retailing stocks, while a buyout bailed out Mecklermedia.
Internet stocks get pounded
Cyberspace players were adrift Thursday, despite a better-than-expected earnings report from an industry bellwether, Yahoo! (YHOO) which fell 11-5/16 to 103-1/16.
Other search engines were stalled, with Infoseek (SEEK) losing 2-13/16 to 17-11/16 Excite (XCIT) tumbling 5-9/16 to 28-3/8 and Lycos (LCOS) falling 3-11/16 to 23-7/16.
Net information player Ziff-Davis (ZD) dropped 1-7/8 to 4-1/16 after announcing the ongoing world market turmoil forced the company to trim its workforce and cut its earnings targets for the fourth quarter.
It was slim pickings on the upside Thursday, but Mecklermedia (MECK) shot 6-5/16 to 26-1/2, after business news company Penton Media (PME) said it will buy the publisher of Internet World magazine for $274 million in stock.
But elsewhere in the Internet world CMG Information Services (CMGI), the Internet investor group, fell 6-7/16 to 35-7/8, Broadcast.com (BCST) sank 4-5/8 to 33-1/2 CNET (CNWK) plunged 5-1/4 to 34, RealNetworks (RNWK) tumbled 4-13/16 to 22-7/8 and GeoCities (GCTY) fell 2-1/2 to 14.
Among the Internet service providers, MindSpring Enterprises (MSPG) dropped 4-5/8 to 24-3/4 and EarthLink Network (ELNK) fell 3 to 31-1/8.
Investors cash out of retail stocks
Despite a handful of upbeat signs, the retail sector posted sluggish sales numbers in stores open at least a year in September, and that led Wall Street investors to pound the sector.
League leaders were lower, such as Wal-Mart (WMT), off 3-3/4 to 55, despite a 9.5 percent jump in same store sales, and Dayton Hudson (DH), parent of Target, lost 3-1/2 to 32-1/4.
Hi-fi and computer vendor Best Buy (BBY) sank 4-7/16 to 32-3/4, while rival CompUSA (CPU) dropped 1-7/16 to 10-11/16.
And among home-improvement retailers, The Home Depot (HD) got hammered, off 3-13/16 to 32-11/16, while rival Lowe's (LOW) sank 3-5/8 to 24-1/16.
Few others get saving graces
ContiFinancial (CFN) rose 1-13/16 to 4-15/16 after its parent, agribusiness Continental Grain, said it will buy up to 2.5 million shares of the consumer-finance company, which has been hit by market woe hitting mortgage lenders.
MemberWorks (MBRS) rocketed 4-3/8 to 16-7/8 after the U.S. Securities and Exchange said it does not object to the membership program operator's revenue-recognition policies, but said the company must change them by next year.
FileNET (FILE) plummeted 6-1/8, or 58 percent, to 4-3/8 after the maker of document-management software said it would report a third-quarter loss of 18 cents a share as the global economic crisis took a bite.
The consensus analyst forecast was for 14 cents a share in profit. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter subsequently cut its rating on FileNet to "neutral" from "outperform."
But Jacor Communications (JCOR) didn't receive a buyout boost, off 2-1/8 to 38 after Clear Channel Communications (CCU) said it will buy its rival for $4.4 billion stock and debt to create the nation's second-largest radio broadcaster.
Clear Channel lost 4-13/16 to 32-3/16.
Information Resources (IRIC) fell 5-1/2 to 7, after the market-research firm, which collects data from bar codes scanned at checkout counters, said it expects earnings in its third and fourth quarters to fall short of analyst targets.
The company, citing lower-than-expected domestic sales and restructuring costs, said it expects earnings of no more than 19 cents per share in the second half, compared with the analyst estimate of 29 cents per share, according to First Call.
Bassett Furniture (BSET) slipped 4-21/32 to 21-3/32 after the home-furnishings maker said it would post an operating profit of 29 cents a share in the third quarter, compared with the First Call estimate of 40 cents. 
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