Dear Frank and Thread:
My thanks to all of you for this thread and your remarkable posts. I have learned a ton from all of you.
I wonder if any of you would care to 'go out on a limb' and make a best guestimate as to where you think the greatest growth in internet related sectors will be in the years to come. A friend and I have compiled the following (certainly incomplete) list of sectors. They are listed in no particular order with some representative companies in parenthesis.
1. Data Storage Service Providers (EMC)
2. Fiber Backbone Bandwidth Providers (QWST, GBLX, ...)
3. Internet Service Providers+ (AOL, MSN, @Home)
4. Application Service Providers (Sun? Intel? QWST?)
5. Internet Content Providers (NYTimes, Time, MSNBC, ...)
6. "Gateways"/Content Providers (YHOO, AOL, Excite/@Home)
7. Internet Devices (Nokia, 3Com, MSFT, Sun?, Intel?, Sony?)
8. Semiconductor Manufacturer's for the Internet Economy (TI, INTC...)
9. E-Commerce (Amazon, EBay, YHOO, ...)
10. B2B Enablers (Various)
11. Web Development Services (IBM, USWeb)
12. Last-Mile Solutions Providers (DSL, wireless, / Cox, Roadrunner, DSL providers such as Rhythms, Northpoint, & Covad).
13. Internet 1 Network Companies (CSCO)
14. Internet 2 (next generation internet) Network Companies (Nortel, Lucent, Brocade, Juniper, Sycamore)... You get the idea. A fiber oriented internet.
15. Fiber Manufacturing Suppliers (JDS Uniphase).
16. Internet Security (Verisign? Checkpoint. Firewall co.'s)
17. Financial Transactions on the Web (Checkfree, Intuit)
...
As you can see from the list above, my thoughts are not all well defined. However, if you can 'catch the gist' of my comments, perhaps readers of this post could make an educated guess to the following question.
Which 5 sectors will have the fastest growth in the next 3-5 years? In these sectors, which companies will benefit the most? Of these, which companies represent the best value?
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I hope that this post will stimulate some interesting discussion and, perhaps, may lead to a worthwhile investment strategy.
Regards to all,
Jim Ditsworth |
