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

To: zuma_rk who wrote (8801)	8/5/1999 11:35:00 AM
From: David H. Zimmer	Respond to of 20297

<<was Douglass in town for CF-related promotion>> I do not know and did not ask. CKFR is most aware of the level of ability of the constituents of this thread of which I am but one. Jim was most upbeat. I trust his representations and will act accordingly.

To: zuma_rk who wrote (8801)	8/6/1999 9:28:00 AM
From: CAPT TONY	Respond to of 20297

>>>Out of curiosity -- was Douglass in town for CF-related promotion, or was this just informal? Zuma, maybe this answers your question (release is very long, here are some excerpts): Yesterday Morgan Stanley Dean Witter hosted a conference on the Internet and Financial Services with presentations by 30 speakers and an audience of close to 1,000. - There were several key themes at the conference. First, we were struck by the bold ideas and aggressive execution of what we call the "attackers." Second, it's our sense that only a small number of established financial services firms ("defenders") are up to the challenge of competing in an online world. Third, margin pressure is the inevitable outcome for all but a few winners. Fourth, it's all happening even faster than we had thought, and first mover advantage in this sector is thus becoming more important than it has been with other technology developments. Attackers Will Take No Prisoners. We were struck by the bold ideas and aggressive execution of a host of newly formed companies with strong management and the eager backing of venture and/or public investors. These firms will drive down margins for the industry by improving pricing transparency and empowering the consumer with education and information, by attacking inefficient segments of the distribution chain, and by creating compelling content. There's no doubt in our minds that comparison shopping and auction-style market places will grow in popularity among consumers. Many Defenders are Asleep. Among the thousands of established financial services firms, it's our sense that the vast majority is not prepared to counter the pricing pressure that will result from Internet-enabled competition... a focus on best-in-class service, including streamlined fulfilment, which consumers are willing to pay for; and "channel-agnostic" marketing programs to create some direct Internet traffic and avoid over-reliance on intermediaries for new business. However, only best-in-breed manufacturers will prosper in an era of Internet transparency. For multiple product distributors, such as banks and brokerages, we think the best strategy is to combine sticky transaction products (checking, brokerage, and credit cards) with first-rate content (news, research, shopping deals, open architecture, and advisory tools) to create what we've taken to calling a "vertical portal." Success will be measured by Internet traffic, new account growth, and eventually fee income. It's happening faster than we thought, but most of the change is still in front of us. Despite the collective efforts of this team to understand and track Internet trends as they impact the financial services, we were collectively surprised by the rapid pace of new ideas and new technology revealed at the conference. We believe some of the most effective "attackers" among financial-services providers over the Internet will be the Internet "SWAT teams" of large, traditional financial services companies, including Bank One ($53, Strong Buy, target $72), Citigroup ($44, Outperform, target $60), and American Express ($129, Strong Buy, target $175 -- see yesterday's note for our comments on AXP's recent analyst meeting). CheckFree (CKFR: 26, N/R) looks to have a good shot at remaining the leading provider of Internet bill payment and presentment technology. CKFR's addressable market is enormous- over 68 billion checks are written annually. There will clearly be competitors in the bill payment and presentment space. However, CheckFree's existing relationships with 350+ banks (23 of the top 25), a number of major Internet portals, and over 50 of the top 100 billers should help the company stay many steps ahead of its competitors.... There are some very interesting comments in here and even though CKFR is only mentioned in one paragraph, they are alluded to throughout. Wouldn't it be nice to have MWD "get it" and pick us up with say a "Strong Buy" soon. Capt T