Youbet stock jumps up

Stock in Youbet.com, the online account-wagering company, shot up a total of 31 percent during heavy trading on Thursday and Friday.

On Thursday, Youbet's stock opened at 97 cents, and by the end of the day, it had settled at $1.15, up 17 percent for the day. Trading volume was 497,000 shares, more than seven and a half times the average volume.

The rapid run-up was followed on Friday by a similar increase. Share were up 13 cents to $1.28 on volume of 392,000 shares, almost six times the normal volume.

Youbet recently announced that it had record handle in January, but the company has been posting record monthly handles consistently since last summer. Youbet officials also recently said that the company had positive cash flow in the fourth quarter for the first time in its history.

Before the recent run-up, Youbet's stock had not been above one dollar since May of last year, when it briefly surged to $1.07 before falling below the dollar mark again. As recently as October 2002, the stock was trading as low as 47 cents.