Continuing my posts on industry groups, I want to turn your attention to what we used to call the internet sector. Below are the monthly charts of Amazon.com Inc (AMZN), eBay Inc (EBAY), Google Inc (GOOG), Yahoo Inc (YHOO).

Charts Courtesy of Thomson Financial

Of course, when we were using the general phrase "internet sector", one of the most prominent companies, Google, wasn't even trading yet and anything that even had anything to do with internet was included. (I remember an argument being made that UPS and FedEx were "internet companies" because they delivered the items you bought online - but that was a different era and I digress.)

Looking to the charts above we find various shades of technical weakness as each stock is at, or near, long-term oversold levels. Yahoo looks to be one of the more disappointing charts but that is one I once described as a a slow motion train wreck, so I may be biased. Shares of YHOO broke support near 20 and are now in a holding pattern between that overhead resistance and the lows from late-2002.

Some may look at the chart and say the downside is limited as a stock can't go below zero, but you need to evaluate investments on a percentage return. A drop to the lows would still be a loss of more than 50%. Looking past the chart, I think that Yahoo still has some fundamental problems to resolve and a buyout may be the best out. That could make for a good trade but I am not a big fan of situations where you are counting on single event to play out.

I would put eBay's chart in the same as camp as Yahoo's. The stock has broken clearly defined support. The oversold condition could lend itself to a bounce, but that former support now represents an area where I would expect sellers to step in.

Google differs from both eBay and Yahoo in that it was in a strong uptrend until last year. By contrast, shares of EBAY peaked in late-2004 while YHOO ran out of steam at the end of 2005. I think the biggest concern for Google rests with the data below. According to Zacks, a full 19 of 21 analysts (90 percent) rank GOOG with a "buy" rating. The stock is poised to close out the year with a loss of more than 50% so some of the bulls may be looking for the exits. I wouldn't view downgrade risk as much of a concern for EBAY or YHOO, but I am not sure what would inspire upgrades.

Last, but not least, we have Amazon.com which I would rank as the most interesting chart. Like the others, the stock has dropped but it is still holding above support. I think that technical distinction is worth noting. The support zone gives you a stop loss to key on and there is ample room for upgrades.

Amazon.com	eBay Inc
Google	Yahoo