Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
Email Alert

Internet Daily 
for Tuesday, November 20, 2001
by Frank Barnako CBS MarketWatch.com


Stocks, bonds and babes

If the bottom falls out of the market, wouldn't it be better to 
hear about it from someone not wearing a bottom? Perhaps this 
was the genesis of MarketwrapUnwrapped.com, a Sydney, 
Australia-based Web site featuring naked women offering stock 
market reports. Streaming video of two women, wearing little but 
smiles, greets visitors to the site. "Oh, hi! Thanks for 
checking us out," says one of them, Georgie Jestico. The Web 
site's biography section says she was born in England and has 
completed two years at "San Francisco University," though 
there's not a school in San Francisco by that exact name. She 
and three other anchor/models deliver "all the market news. 
Takeovers, mergers and bums," they say in a video teaser to 
encourage subscribers to pay $9.95 monthly for real-time 
updates. The announcers begin their reports clothed, and remove 
clothing as they go through the news. "There is no market 
advice, it's just a wrap," explained Sam Ruddock, the site's 
managing director, in an interview with Reuters. "It is very 
tame. It's only R rated," he added. Launched two weeks ago, 
Ruddock said the site has 50 subscribers.

Another such site, NakedNews.com, has been in business in two 
years. It recently expanded to offer two channels of 
programming, and now features 10 women and four men reporting 
news, sports and weather.

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Online retailers get federal warning

The Federal Trade Commission has reminded online retailers of 
its regulations on shipping. The FTC said it surveyed 110 
Internet retailers and notified 72 of them of the mail order 
rule. It requires merchants to send orders to buyers consistent 
with the site's claim, or, if no time is stated, within 30 days. 
The commission found 52 of 110 sites made "quick-ship claims." 
Inadequate warranty information was also found on 52 sites, the 
agency reported. The warranty rule requires written warranties 
on consumer products costing more than $15 be made available to 
consumers before they buy.

The number of complaints about Internet retailers has become 
comparable to those about telemarketers and auto repair shops. 
The National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators and 
the Consumer Federation of America said consumer complaints 
about the Internet ranked eighth among the groups' top 10 
categories. The most commonly cited problems were about online 
purchases and auctions. "People don't always get what they order 
over the Internet and sometimes they don't get anything at all," 
said Wendy Weinberg, executive director of the NACAA. She 
suggested buyers use credit cards, print out receipts and vary 
passwords on Web sites.

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Online shopping holds little interest for most

Only one out of nine people say shopping online is their 
preference for this holiday season, according to Accenture 
research. "Given a heightened fear of terrorism, it was somewhat 
surprising the physical store was by far the most popular 
shopping venue," the consulting firm's report said. For all 
shoppers, clothing items are the most popular gift items.

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