Youbet stock continues to rally

Stock in Youbet.com, the online horse race wagering company, settled at a 52-week high on Wednesday after two days of unusually heavy trading.

Youbet's stock closed Wednesday at $1.75, more than triple the company's stock price as recently as October. Trading on Wednesday was 1.07 million shares, well above average volume of 128,000 shares.

On Tuesday, Youbet stock also closed at $1.75, but that price was up 19 cents compared with Monday's close. Volume on Tuesday was 888,000 shares.

Youbet stock has nearly doubled since Feb. 7, when it was trading at 92 cents. At that time, average volume was approximately 60,000 shares a day. In October, Youbet stock hit a 52-week low when it fell to 47 cents.

It is unclear why the stock is attracting so much attention. Youbet recently announced that it had a positive cash flow in the fourth quarter, and was setting records for handle. The company lost $8.9 million in 2002 on revenues of $10.2 million, according to financial statements.