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CNNfn market movers
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April 13, 1999: 2:38 p.m. ET
Banking/Internet combos soar while strong earnings bring mixed reactions
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Stamina proved key to Internet and banking issues attempting to muscle their way up Wall Street's slippery slope afternoon, while investors turned a fickle eye toward a number of strong earnings reports in other sectors.
Individually, the banking and financial sector lost some of their morning momentum heading into afternoon trading. But any combination of the two still seemed to tickle investors' fancy.
Among the afternoon's hot commodities was Equitex (EQTX), which moved into the Internet banking business by agreeing to purchase First TeleBanc Corp., the holding company for Net1Bank NA, out of Boca Raton, Fla.
Just down the road, Florida Banks Inc. (FLBK), a regional $145 million bank based in Jacksonville, also announced its intention to offer real-time, full-service banking over the Internet.
That helped send Internet-crazed investors into a frenzy over on-line banking stocks. Equitex was up 10-9/16, or 45 percent, to 34 while Florida Banks rose 6-7/16 to 14-7/8.
Meanwhile, existing Internet financial firms continued to benefit from the excitement generated by their newest companions. Net.B@nk Inc. (NTBK), which also announced a three-for-one stock split Tuesday, soared 41-1/2 to 200, while on-line brokers Ameritrade Holdings (AMTD) and National Discount Brokers (NDB) grew 16 percent and 19 percent to 164-1/2 and 74-1/8 respectively.
On the bricks and mortar side, however, many traditional Wall Street giants could not maintain the early momentum created by strong earnings reports from PaineWebber Group and Merrill Lynch and Co.
In early afternoon trading, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette (DLJ) was up 1-1/2 to 95-1/2, Citigroup Inc. (C) rose 1 to 75, but Chase Manhattan Corp. (CMB) had fallen 3 /4 to 86-1/8.
For those not excited by the promise of Internet banking, there were several other on-line deals to explore, including GeoTel Communication Inc.'s (GEOC) agreement to merge with Cisco Systems (CSCO) in a $2 billion deal.
That placed GeoTel among the day's top gainers, climbing 11-78 to 56-1/8. But not far behind was Internet company Xoom.com (XMCM), which rose 12-1/8 to 89 when investors learned the company had discussed selling a major stake in itself to an unnamed party, but couldn't agree on the terms.
The promise of tomorrow?
But while the new wave of Internet stocks attracted a good deal of attention, some of the country's largest companies found only muted reaction to their strong earnings reports.
Avon Products (AVP), expecting a big jump after announcing it would top analysts' quarterly forecast by up to 5 cents, rose 1-9/16 to 53 while Harley Davidson Inc. (HDL), which roared past Wall Street's projections after the bell Monday, was up 7/16 to 14.
And Enron Oil and Gas Co. (EOG), which surprised analysts by posting a first-quarter net gain, was up 1/4 to 17-1/8.
But investors were quick to punish those that didn't at least meet the Street's expectations. Dialogic Corp. (DLGC) felt their wrath Tuesday, falling 4-3/8 to 30-1/2 after announcing it would fall well short of analysts' 37 cents a share projections. 
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