Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : CheckFree Holdings Corp. (CKFR), the next Dell, Intel? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TLindt who wrote (7367)	6/29/1999 1:32:00 AM
From: Erik T	Respond to of 20297

Internet business stocks take center stage By Dick Satran SAN FRANCISCO, June 28 (Reuters) - Suddenly, the Internet is all business. After a long period in which well-known consumer brands like Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), Amazon.com Inc. (Nasdaq:AMZN - news) and America Online Inc (NYSE:AOL - news) were star performers, the stocks of companies that help others set up online shops are taking center stage. Analysts have long predicted that the so-called toolmakers -- companies that work behind the scenes to build the infrastructure for doing business on the Internet -- would have their day. But for a long time investors didn't want to hear about it, especially with the first wave of name-brand Internet stocks performing so stunningly. Now, with the best-known Internet stocks having fallen 30 percent to 50 percent since April, the less flashy business-to-business providers have gotten a fresh look. Leading consumer sites, meanwhile, have been hit by worries that marketing costs are mounting in a hypercompetitive environment in which many new players, fueled by IPO cash, are fighting a massive branding war. The new wave can get the benefits of all that frenzied activity by selling to the companies competing on the Web, without having to pay the marketing costs. ''This second wave of companies is all about mission-critical applications for people doing e-commerce,'' said Jack Staff, economist at Zona Research. Ariba Inc.(Nasdaq:ARBA - news)., which tripled in value on its first day of trading Thursday, is typical of the very unglamorous wave of new businesses. It helps companies procure supplies over the Internet. It might not be a sexy Web site, but it's fitting the current vogue of sites with more tangible revenue streams than ad banners and a share of e-commerce revenues. biz.yahoo.com Come on, what is more unglamorous than paying bills? I think CKFR should go public now. Oh wait, we already tried that :-( Erik