EBay holiday quarter outlook disappoints on U.S. weakness

By Phil Wahba (Reuters) - EBay Inc on Wednesday gave a disappointing holiday forecast, saying the U.S. economic environment, including consumer confidence, had deteriorated in part because of the shutdown of the U.S. government. Shares of the e-commerce company fell 5.7 percent in after-hours trading. Chief Financial Officer Bob Swan told investors on a conference call that industry growth rates for e-commerce had shrunk to about 13 percent in the third quarter, from about 16 percent in the previous quarter. "We really haven't seen any more positive signs in October," he added. ...

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