MARKET FOCUS: INVESTOR RELATIONS - Are PR players to blame for Internet IPO hype?/Dot-com start-ups are valued in millions of dollars before earning a penny in profit. Is PR fanning the flames of the current bull market? Isadore Barmash reports

Amazon.com. EarthWeb. Inktomi. Initial public offerings for Internet start-ups have helped ignite the stock market over the last 18 months, a time during which the Dow Jones industrial average propelled into and well above the unbelievable 11,000 level. Some Net stocks shot up astronomically and stayed there. Many fizzled.