Two SEC fili ngs dated February 11, 2002 for Homestore indicate that an investment company has purchased large shares of Homestore stock signed pursuant to a Power of Attorney "with respect to HotJobs.Com,Ltd.

Also today, Yahoo! announced the completion of its purchase of Hotjobs.com yesterday fueling investor speculation that Yahoo! has backdoored its way into owning a sizeable interest in Homestore.

Does that mean Yahoo! owns 13,600,000 shares of Homestore stock or 11.6 percent of outstanding Homestore shares?

Paul Haaga, Jr., executive vice president of Capital Research and Management Company purchased the shares. Authorizing the purchase was a Power of Attorney given to James P. Ryan, attorney in fact for HotJobs.com.

Despite the implication present in the filings that Yahoo! is now a Homestore stockowner, a Yahoo! spokesperson told Agent News that "neither Hotjobs.com nor Yahoo! own shares of Homestore."

Published: February 12, 2002

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