VistaPrint is leading e-commerce stocks to be up 37% for the year

The Internet Retailer Online Retail Index which tracks the stocks of 25 online retailers and e-commerce technology vendors, is up 37% for the year, a far better performance than such broader indexes as the NASDAQ (+18% since Jan.1), the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (+5%) or the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+3%). Leading the way among the e-commerce stocks so far this year is VistaPrint Ltd., an online retailer of photo-sharing services, whose stock is ahead 126% since Jan. 1. Among e-commerce technology providers, Art Technology Group Inc. has been the best performer, its stock ahead 91.2% for the year. Overall, 20 of the 25 stocks in the index are ahead for the year, and only five have lost ground. In 2008, the Online Retail Index stocks declined 39% for the year, slightly worse than the S&P, which was down 37%, and the Dow, down 34%. Among the best-performing stocks since Jan. 1, 2009, in the Online Retail Index and the percentage price increase for each there also are: Blue Nile (87.7%), Shutterfly (86.4%), and LivePerson (78.6%). Among other of 25 companies in the Internet Retailer Online Retail Index there are: 1-800-Flowers.com Inc., Akamai Technologies, Amazon.com Inc., American Greetings Corp., Bidz.com Inc., Blue Nile Inc., CyberSource Corp., DemandTec Inc., Digital River Inc., Drugstore.com Inc., eBay Inc. and others.