Here are seven stocks that will let you ride the Internet mania,
and also allow you to sleep soundly – and sleep late. These
are companies to invest in for the long term.
Lucent Technologies (LU): With its $18.5 billion dollar deal to
purchase Ascend Communications (ASND), Lucent is poised
to be the Internet technology titan that will crush all the other
titans. It's been a consistent winner, with strong earnings, ever
since being spun off from AT&T in 1996. Competing with
companies like Cisco (CSCO) isn't easy, but Lucent's
innovation is it's biggest weapon. Quite simply, Lucent's Bell
Labs may be the best research and development arm of any
company in the world.
3Com (COMS): While Lucent is still figuring out the logistics of
merging with Ascend, 3Com already knows all about the
struggles of a megamerger, like restructuring and layoffs. But
now that the chaos of its merger with US Robotics is behind it,
3Com stands to benefit greatly from the explosion in home
Internet use. Hackers and software pirates have sworn by USR
modems for years, and it's only a matter of time before
everyday shoppers learn that this is the superior brand.
General Electric (GE): With stakes in a portal site (Snap),
the most popular daily news site (MSNBC), and the top
women's network on the Web (iVillage.com), GE's peacock
powerhouse is proving just how serious it is about dominating
Internet content. NBC News chief Andy Lack is a man
obsessed with synergy, and his influence on news on the Web
is immeasurable. NBC's strategy is all about finding good
deals even if it means its sitcom stars chat on Yahoo! instead
of MSNBC.com or it competes with Microsoft's portal site.
With this many irons in the fire, there's going to be multiple
sparks.
Microsoft (MSFT): Isn't it obvious that Bill Gates will do
anything possible to make sure Microsoft isn't left behind in the
Internet business? With portal site MSN.com, e-commerce
experiments like travel site Expedia, content powerhouses like
MSNBC, the Sidewalk city guides, and highbrow experiments
like Slate, this is a company that's into much more than even
NBC. Oh, and if you've forgotten, they've also got this really
popular Web browser -- oh yeah, and a stranglehold on
operating systems that's so strong that some are arguing that
it can't be legal.
Disney (DIS): Heavily invested in almost every kind of media,
Disney is now poised to turn Go.com into a major portal site. It
will be interesting to see if Disney's dollars can equal Yahoo!'s
always-growing eyeballs, but the fact that ESPN.com is the
biggest sports site in the world can only help. After all, sports,
sex, stocks and shopping are the Big Four on the Web.
Zap (ZAP): Yes, I realize all the class-action lawsuits against
Avie Glazer's fish-oil company can't help. (Read: Zap May
Have the Last Laugh). And it's easy to argue that this company
is going to create something akin to a thrift store on the Web.
But what's wrong with a discount strip mall? We all can't shop
at Neiman-Marcus. Zap has a healthy cash flow and solid P/E
ratio. There's no funny money here.
Knight-Ridder: Its Real Cities network of local newspaper
Web sites has the folks at Microsoft Sidewalk scrambling, and
sites like Cars.com and Jobhunter.com provide the exact
type of services that many people search for on the Internet.
These sites allow people to use the Web to simplify their lives,
which is why many people get online in the first place.
Newspaper companies aren't sexy investments, but this is a
newspaper company that's experimenting with both web
content and e-commerce.
Disclosure: I am an occasional contributor to MSNBC.com,
which was formerly my primary employer. Some of the
companies mentioned above are among the numerous
corporations that I've approached about partnership and
sponsorship opportunities for Impression, the online magazine
I edit. It would be inappropriate for me to mention which ones,
but I can assure you that many of the other companies I've
talked to about Impression are major competitors of the
corporations I listed above.
- Talk Back: Chat with Author Andy Wang:.
Andy, knock yourself out. You'r too conservative,
#27, By MaxSteiner on Thursday, 21 Jan 1999 at 8:46 PM EST
Microsolf is the biggest most successsful interne |
