Despite a difficult environment for booksellers and recent closures at three distribution centers, the financial reporters at Barron's have dubbed Amazon "The World's Best Retailer" in a subscription-only cover story.

The glowing review urges readers to buy Amazon stock now, praising the bookseller's efficient delivery system and Wal-Mart-esque pricing. But Barron's wasn't always so happy with Amazon.

As ZDNet points out, in the financial magazine bashed the fledgling bookseller with a series of untimely predictions in 1999: "[Jeff Bezos] will likely be outflanked by companies that sell their wares directly to consumers. To begin with, publishing houses themselves could sell their books online. And new technologies promise to cut costs even further by allowing consumers to download books via the Internet."