Amazon or Slamathon?

Barren shelves make for barren minds. If you haven't made a trip to Amazon.com, the Earth's Biggest Bookstore, odds are you probably will. As the most popular online bookseller, Amazon.com <% if gsSubBrand = "aolsnapshot" then Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AMZN)") else Response.Write("(Nasdaq: AMZN)") end if %> has become required reading for those wondering about the prospects of online commerce.

A great company, but is it a great share price? Louis Corrigan (TMF Seymor) and David Forrest (TMF Bogey) are literal bookends on the subject. So, right here, right now, a war of the words rages. Is this Earth's Biggest Bookstore or Earth's Biggest Bubble?

Arguments have been scribbled and rebuttals have been penned. So step into a literary luge as we slope through the pros and cons of this Olympian duel.

You Get to Vote!

After reading all of the arguments, cast your vote for the winner of the Duel. We'll tabulate results each week and revisit from time to time to see whether you were right! As always, we invite you to join us in the Amazon.com message board to continue the duel.

[Any suggestions, comments, praise, or flames, please send them along to the Dueling Fools Team.]

The Bull... Let's say you want to open a bookstore. You need a convenient location and a good selection of books. You want a cool place where it's possible to find intelligent conversation and maybe some cute sales clerks. You also need a workhorse information system so you can control inventory and costs with the penny-pinching precision of a pensioner. Plus, you need to deal in high volume so you can offer low prices. Finally, you want to give your customers such awesome service that they tell their friends. Continue...

The Bear... First off, Amazon.com is a very exciting company. It has a ton of momentum in sales and "promotion" right now. The Internet is HOT HOT HOT, and Amazon is building a nice name for itself. The company is taking advantage of a growing distribution channel with the Net and it's paying off. As a company, I have no real problems with Amazon. My "bearishness" on Amazon.com is directly a result of what I think the stock price will look like in 5 years and the annualized rate of return that results from this projection. If you are looking at a different time frame, you may see different things than I do. Continue...