Suria's quiet period

Last June the Lehman Brothers debt analyst presciently skewered the Seattle-based online retailer, predicting that it was running out of cash. Last month he issued an even stronger report, despite pressure on Lehman to tone down the study, from celebrated Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers venture capitalist and Amazon board member John Doerr. The usually forthcoming Suria now downplays the report as "just a continuation of my call from last year." But he can't help noting that Amazon chairman and CEO Jeff Bezos liquidated 800,000 shares worth some $12 million early last month, even as the online bookseller's spokesman was dismissing the report as "silly."