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

To: Charlie Smith who wrote (10612)	9/28/1999 5:35:00 PM
From: zuma_rk	Respond to of 20297

Way off-topic: Ok, ok -- I've never done this before (and it goes against my better judgement) -- but I thought I'd share an investment idea with the thread... I promise to not get into a big discourse, and folks who have met me (hopefully) know that I'm not peddling any mystery agenda or anything -- you folks do your homework and decide for yourself. My suggestion -- do some due diligence on Peapod (PPOD), the internet delivery company (groceries and such). I've been holding this one for about a year. They've only got a measly a $200 million valuation (2x sales, if you can believe it), and yesterday they just added a "big name" CEO, from ATT wireless to bring them to the next level. I wouldn't cross the dreaded "off-topic" line to mention it here, except that next week the big, bloated, Goldman-backed "Webvan" IPO is scheduled to hit, and they have a completely absurd $4 BILLION valuation (and have only been in business about 4 months, making it perhaps the looniest IPO in recent memory). So, the question is this -- Does the Webvan IPO (with ex-Andersen consulting head George Sheehan heading it up) plummet to PPOD's valuation (not gonna happen, IMO) -- OR, is there a reasonable chance that the POD, with a new and improved business model and a new, first-tier CEO in place, rises in a sympathy "value play" to what -- $500 million, $1 billion valuation??? Anyway -- I'll not post about this again here -- if I have time I'll attempt to breathe some life into the long-dead SI PPOD thread, (although the Yahoo board for the Pod ain't bad). Here's some links if anyone's interested: "Webvan valued at a stunning $4 billion" hoovers.com New CEO's credentials: biz.yahoo.com Peapod's Website (worth checking out): peapod.com Back of the envelope valuation from the Yahoo thread: messages.yahoo.com Anyway -- I could be totally wrong about this company. Just thought I'd try to return the favor for all the great insight I've gleaned from this thread over the past year. I take no responsibility for your success or failure with this one -- it ain't no Checkfree, but it's interesting, nonetheless... regards, rk (flame away, if you like -- I got my fireproof fruit-of-the-looms on)...<g>

To: Charlie Smith who wrote (10612)	9/28/1999 6:28:00 PM
From: Sam Biller	Respond to of 20297

On a slow news day, here is an article from today's Investor's Business Daily... I Owe, So Off To The Net I Go To Pay The Bills Every Month --------------- By Melba Newsome Investor's Business Daily Buying goods and gathering data will never be the same, thanks to the Internet. Now, one of the most daunting chores of all --- paying bills --- also is going online. To be sure, bill paying is a maddening race against time. Open the envelope, write the check, mail it. You know the routine. And bills don't take a vacation even when you do. Miss a payment date, and you know what that means: late fees. If you get smacked with just one late fee, an online bill-paying service might be worth it. Paying bills via the Web isn't the same as online banking. It's more like a personal assistant. For $8 to $10 a month. Web services from PayMyBills.com Inc. of Pasadena, Calif., CyberBills Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., and Paytrust, a unit of Princeton, N.J.-based Secure Commerce Services Inc., let you get bills online. "I got the idea for CyberBills because I was always on the road," said John Simpson, CEO and company co-founder. "I used online banking, but it was never enough. This service appeals to anybody who is busy or just can't seem to get their bills organized." Backers say online bill paying is safe. Only you can make payments from your bank account, they say. And the sites offer the latest security software, making it nearly impossible for anyone to look in on your finances. Here's how online bill paying works. Bills are sent to the bill-paying centers, which post them on their sites. You receive an e-mail notifying you that a bill has arrived. Simply go to the site to review the bill, select the payment date and authorize the amount. The service does the rest. Paytrust's service goes for $7.95 a month. You're able to pay 25 bills each month. Beyond that, bills cost 50 cents each. You also can download data to software like Intuit Inc.'s Quicken and Microsoft Corp.'s Money. Importing data is simple: Select the software format and the date range. CyberBills offers different levels of service. For $8.95 you can pay 15 bills each month. Additional ones are 75 cents each. The site also offers StatusAlert, an e-mail service that notifies you when a bill arrives or doesn't arrive, or when a payment is due, late or completed. With CyberBills you can even customize reports to see your expenses and get a compact disc each year with your bill history. PayMyBills.com costs $8.95 for 25 bills a month. Extra payments are 50 cents apiece. You also can download to Quicken or track your spending by the site's analysis feature. Right now such services might seem expensive, but prices are expected to drop as they become more popular. Both America Online Inc. and Yahoo Inc. have signed deals with CheckFree, the Web's largest bill processor. Those big Internet companies are expected to offer online bill payment this fall. Higher volumes could lower the cost to $3 or $4 a month for consumers. As various players seize on electronic bill payment as a way to attract customers and sell them other products, the industry's market share is expected to rocket from 4% of U.S. households to 70% within a decade says industry analyst GartnerGroup Inc. ------- -Sam (Now if I can find the author's e-mail address so I can correct some of the mis-information presented herein!) PS> Maybe she knows something about AOL that we don't?

To: Charlie Smith who wrote (10612)	10/6/1999 12:26:00 PM
From: TLindt	Respond to of 20297

>>>Think I'll get on the call a week from tomorrow and ask that very question. Yahoo has been relatively quiet this quarter. The only major announcements it made was the launch of Yahoo! China, and a deal with CheckFree to provide online bill payment on Yahoo! Finance. White said she is also very interested in how Yahoo users accept the new bill payment service, ?because that?s the first time they are requiring payment for a service. They haven?t done that in the past.? msnbc.com