Here's an article from Business week mentioning CKFR...
Got this off the Yahoo board. A good article!
Playing E-Commerce through E-Payment Stocks
As bill-paying and other financial transactions spread through cyberspace, some companies will cash in
A somewhat obscure software maker with the eye-catching ticker symbol "EPAY" (calling to mind the soaring share price of Internet auction outfit eBAY), has been one of the most actively traded stocks of the past week. EPAY is Bottomline Technologies, which makes financial software for businesses and went public on Feb. 12 at $13 a share and traded in the low 20s for the better part of a month. But thanks to positive analysts' reports on Mar. 10 that tied the stock to electronic commerce and attracted the enthusiasm of day traders, Bottomline rocketed to a high of $98 on Mar. 16. Then traders started selling en masse. "Get out now!!!" read one posting on an Internet message board that morning.
EPAY closed Mar. 17 at $77 5/8 -- not bad considering one analyst set a price target of $45. "Obviously there has been a great deal of ebullience because EPAY is a play on Internet payments," says Gary Craft of BancBoston Robertson Stephens. He's sticking with his buy rating despite the steep rise. "We're not going to disagree with the market. This is all new revolutionary stuff."
EPAY's recent run seems a sign that investors' are eager to find a way to play the growth in online banking and bill-paying. But dozens of other companies are also providing banks and businesses the software and services they need for Internet payments. And some may ultimately prove better positioned than Bottomline to benefit from the trend.
NARROW SEGMENT. In fact, Bottomline may well turn out to be one of the Internet's one-week wonders. While it is profitable and analysts predict rapid growth, the company is involved in a fairly narrow segment of the E-commerce picture. Its software allows companies to manage and execute all kind of payments, including making electronic payments to employees and vendors. Along with transitioning customers away from issuing paper checks, it also lets companies access payment information over the Internet -- so a salesman on the road can order a check printed remotely, for example. Large corporations have long used electronic payments (think how long direct deposit has been available). Although there's room for growth, Bottomline's core business is "fairly old hat in some sense," says Octavio Marenzi, research director at Meridien Research in Newton, Mass.
The truly fast growth lies with providing software and services that allow ordinary folks to pay bills online, says Marenzi. "Licking stamps and filling out checks will be a thing of the past," says Drew Cupps, manager of Strong Enterprise Fund (SENTX). In three years, he thinks a majority of people under age 30 will pay all their bills online, and in five years he thinks it'll be the norm.
Although electronic banking has been around for years, mainly in the form of dial-up services offered through personal-finance software packages like Intuit's Quicken, in the past few months its momentum has been building. As the Internet has become a mass medium, banks have gotten serious about offering the service, say analysts. Chase launched an improved free Internet banking service on Feb. 24. Citibank will unveil its new Web site and online banking service this summer. "Probably 8 of the top 15 banks will be rolling out Web-based online banking in the next 9 to 12 months," says Stephen Franco, an analyst with Piper Jaffray. Online stock trading has paved the way for consumers to manage their finances online, he says. And costs should come down. While many banks still charge up to $10 a month for online banking, Chase's service is free.
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