Internet News/Analysis in Brief (AMTD, EBAY, ET, EXPE, OSTK)

• eBay (ticker: EBAY) indeed acquiring Skype. Following the Wall Street Journal's report that eBay was in talks to acquire Skype and the name-the-synergies speculation that followed, the Financial Times reports (paid subscription required) that "eBay was in the final stages late on Sunday night of sealing an agreement to buy Skype... for more than $2.6bn... the deal... could cost as much as $4.1bn, if Skype hits certain performance targets between now and 2008... Under the terms of the potential deal, Ebay is understood to be preparing to pay $1.3bn in cash, along with another $1.3bn worth of stock. It would pay $1.5bn in performance-related benefits as part of an earn-out for shareholders that would also aim to keep Skype's managers at the company until 2008."
• New rationale for eBay's acquisition of Shopping.com? Nielsen//NetRatings reports (via ClickZ) that eBay and Shopping.com were the largest purchasers of sponsored link impressions for the week ending August 21st. eBay accounted for 3% of the market and Shopping.com for over 1%. The numbers show that eBay is indeed susceptible to rising online advertising prices, and suggest that a possible source of cost savings in its aquisition of Shopping.com is greater buying clout in the sponsored impression market.
• Ameritrade raises guidance. Online broker Ameritrade (ticker: AMTD) reported strong metrics for August and raised guidance for Q4. It said: "Ameritrade expects its earnings per share to be at or near the high end of the $0.18 to $0.23 guidance for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005." Ameritrade and E*Trade (ticker: ET) are both at their 52-week highs as consolidation in the online brokerage industry is expected to lead to greater profitability.
• Overstock (ticker: OSTK) profitable? An article in The Motley Fool points out that if Overstock.com reduced its marketing spend to 7.5% of sales while maintaining its current revenue levels the company would be profitable. Quick comment:The article implies that the stock would rise if OSTK became profitable. But if stock prices are determined by the current value of discounted earnings or dividends, then Overstock's stock price already assumes future profitability.
• ...but impossible to short. Daily Options Report (recently added to the Stock Market Blog Resource Page) noted in mid-August that "It is impossible to directly initiate a naked short in OSTK right now... Mark Cuban's correct about the puts, they're in the stratosphere thanks to the inability to borrow the stock." Clearly some people think the stock isn't headed upwards.
• Expedia (ticker: EXPE) advertises via Spyware, says Spyware expert Ben Edelman. He proves his case with screenshots showing Expedia ads from 180solutions, Direct Revenue, and eXact Advertising. Full article here.

Related:

• All Internet Stock Blog articles on Ameritrade, eBay, E*Trade, Expedia or Overstock.
• The complete list of stocks (and links to articles about them) covered by The Internet Stock Blog.