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To: Bretsky who wrote (960)7/6/1999 9:45:00 PM
From: Millionairess  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 3070
 
CNBC- STREET SIGNS
INTERVIEW WITH MUNDER NETNET FUND PORTFOLIO MANAGER PAUL COOK
JULY 6, 1999

SUMMARY: Cook says the fund's top holdings are CSCO, WCOM, INSP, YHOO and TMPW. Cook gives his prognosis for the Internet sector going forward.

Tyler: Internet stocks "cooking" today, just like me. Sector up more than eight percent according to the Dow Jones Internet Index - eight percent today on heels of two positive analysts upgrades for Intel, and in anticipation of a strong profit report from Yahoo! expected tomorrow. It may great day for Internet stocks but if you can recall, the Internet sector had a tumultuous second quarter, so what's the prognosis as we move into the second half of the year? Paul cook is the Portfolio Manager of the Munder NetNet Fund. He joins us from Detroit to share his street smarts. Nice to have you back.

Thank you.

Tyler: Let's start with a sort of general question about the Internet sector. How healthy is it, how strong can it be over the next 12 months?

I think the fundamentals are still intact. We see the revenue run rates climbing, we see the number of users on line climbing, the amount of time people are spending online is climbing. I think there is a necessary push toward e-commerce, as it offers convenience in selection, better in price, so I think you know the sector is healthy, it is a function of whether or not it is overvalued or undervalued really.

Tyler: What do you think on that? Is it overvalued or undervalued?

We are taking this last opportunity of the trend in prices to step into some of the names we thought had run away from us. We're upgrading our portfolio. We're looking at AOL again, looking at Amazon. We're looking at companies we consider blue chips, as an opportunity to upgrade the portfolio.

Tyler: Some of the companies that you have are really in the allied areas like Intel, like Cisco, some of the plumbing and sort of infrastructure plays.

That is exactly right. I don't think the Internet is going to be seated completely to pure plays. I think there is also this opportunity for infrastructure companies to do very well. The plumbing companies as you stated. I think they have a real opportunity here and I think people are overlooking them a bit.

Tyler: Yes, talk to me a little bit about Infospace.com would not be one of the plumbing companies I take it. That it was one of the holdings, companies you liked most. Why?

Actually it is both. It is run by Jane a company that provides data out to companies looking to draw users. I think a tremendous business model and they continue to move forward. They're introducing a shopping portion of their offering a shopping site, actually. So, I think you know going forward Infospace has real potential.

Tyler: VerticalNet, another favorite.

VerticalNet operates in a business-to-business sector. I think this is again one of those sectors people just don't look at typically when considering the Internet space. I think business-to-business is really going to be the bottom part of the iceberg.

Tyler: What about TMP Worldwide, another holding. I am not familiar.

MP runs Monster Board.

Tyler: Monster Board. I should have known that.

They allow for people to put resumes out, online and for companies to come and recruit, you know, people for their openings for IT professionals, etc. I think this is a trend that's almost irreversible. Finding of job, now countrywide or even globally, is made available by the ubiquity of the Internet.

Tyler: One of your big holdings MCI-WorldCom, a huge business-to-business provider UUnet and so forth. That stock got hit last week on some sort of cautious comments, shall we say by analysts. What's your view of it?

Well, I think MCI-WorldCom is continuing to aggregate the pieces to put together, a real end-to-end digital solution. What they're missing here is the wireless portion, but I think they will shore that up in near term. But you are right, this is another one of those plumbing companies that I think does well as a result of being able to transfer data, and participate in the growth of data being moved over networks.

Tyler: What do you think of David Wetherell and CMGI and its strategy most especially with that AltaVista purchase last week.

We have nothing but the highest regard for David Wetherell and CMGI. This acquisition though of AltaVista seems a bit peculiar in that they go from a collegial relationship with many of the online sites to one of a competitive nature. And I think, it is probably a step in right direction, acquiring AltaVista, but its going to be interesting to see how that plays out to see whether are not they maintain, those important relationships, to get their stable of sites, continued to participate in deals and deal flow.

Tyler: Paul, thanks for coming by.

Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.

Tyler: Great to see you again, thank you. Paul Cook, Portfolio Manager of the Munder NetNet Fund, joining us from Detroit.