Great stuff Mike. It looks and sounds wonderful for GNNU shareholders as the potential for acquisition seems so high. Here is an update on the B2B industry from Morgan Stanley:
biz.yahoo.com
Morgan optimistic on B2B, but advises selectivity
NEW YORK, April 7 (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley Dean Witter said Friday it was optimistic about business-to-business business opportunities, but cautioned investors must be selective because many B2B firms and business ideas may not succeed.
Shares of B2B companies, which establish electronic exchanges where business customers and suppliers buy and sell products, -- such as Ariba Inc.(NasdaqNM:ARBA - news), Commerce One (NasdaqNM:CMRC - news) and VeritcalNet ave begun to stage a recovery after the beating they experienced in recent weeks amid a broad technology sell-off and concerns of the exchanges' viability.
A move by traditional companies to set up their own exchanges in industries that some of these B2B companies had targeted -- such as aerospace and automotive -- sparked fears amid investors in recent sessions that the exchanges could fail.
The detailed report, written by analysts Charles Phillips and Internet guru Mary Meeker, said that B2B trends will be big, but they said current market valuations assume perfection across the board. Therefore, they advised caution and selectivity.
Some of the trends they see in the industry are as follows:
-- The B2B market will be much larger than the business-to-consumer market and its groundwork will be laid faster thanks to the lessons learned from the business-to-consumer market.
-- Exchanges will introduce unprecedented market transparency across industries, highlighting strong and weak competitors, the report said. Simple buy/sell transactions will be almost free, like e-mail.
-- Domain expertise will be key; deep may beat broad.
-- Many B2B business models look suspect and most will likely fail. The exchanges planning to survive from trading volume are in for a rude awakening; Finding high gross margins is key.
-- Automating all the interactions between businesses will be a major source of revenue for exchanges.
-- Equity sharing with customers and mergers and acquisition will be a key way of attracting transaction volume early.
-- Companies will substitute information for inventory.
-- A few key buyers can drive a market quickly. Industry-sponsored exchanges are only viable if they are win-win for both buyers and sellers and create an atmosphere of independence.
-- Through B2B, buyers will get more uniform, predictable pricing with real-time information on availability and better controls over their own procurement processes. Suppliers will be able to plan production more intelligently.
-- It sees the buyers as the largest net winners across all the industries of the B2B phenomenon.
Lots more on the B2B site at the Bull Sector Site.
bullsector.com
Also if you have not signed up for the free Technology Investor magazine I would highly recommend it:
technologyinvestor.com
Best of luck with all your investments.
RTS |
