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.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Thread Formerly Known as No Rest For The Wicked -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Samuel Wayne Turner who wrote (75301)	11/27/1999 10:01:00 AM
From: Oral Roberts	Respond to of 90042

Thats why I tend to short by using puts. At least I know what my downside is up front. Jeff Roberts

To: Samuel Wayne Turner who wrote (75301)	11/27/1999 10:06:00 AM
From: Ellen	Respond to of 90042

TRRA biz.yahoo.com Thursday November 25, 1:21 pm Eastern Time INTERVIEW-Major concentration seen on Web sites in Spanish By David Haskel BUENOS AIRES, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Despite an Internet boom which has created new players, the Spanish-speaking online market will probably be controlled by just three major ones, said a top official from Universo Online (UOL), the world's largest non-English site. "We believe there is a big tendency to consolidation, with only three players remaining," Claus Vieira, director general of UOL International told Reuters in an interview. "We think UOL is well placed to be one of the three." The Brazilian firm has just opened up a portal in Argentina (www://http.uol.com.ar) and plans to open up others in the coming weeks in Spain, Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, Chile, and one catering to U.S. Hispanics. Vieira sees the two other likely survivors as America Online Inc. (AOL) (NYSE:AOL - news), the world's top Internet provider, and Terra Networks (NasdaqNM:TRRA - news), the online unit of Spain's Telefonica (NYSE:TEF - news). Both AOL and Terra are both making inroads in the still uncrowded region, where there are only 7.5 million online connections for 450 million inhabitants and where Internet use grows four times faster than in the rest of the world. Besides its strong presence in Latin America through the purchase of a flurry of minor portals, Terra last week became Europe's largest publicly traded Internet company as it debuted on Madrid's stock exchange and the Nasdaq in New York. AOL earlier this month entered Latin America through its main door, Brazil, by far the largest regional Internet market, and made no bones of wanting to become Numero Uno. But according to Vieira, UOL -- which in Brazil alone has 550,000 subscribers -- has an edge over both AOL and Terra. Terra is a spin-off of a telecom and has no Web content expertise. Branding is another problem for them, he said -- as it buys portals as part of its expansion plans, Terra keeps the names of the most successful sites, if only temporarily. "UOL will be the same everywhere, like Coca Cola or Ford." As for AOL, its main focus is in the United States, Europe and Japan, in that order, Vieira said. "For us, Latin America is a matter of life and death. It's our natural market." UOL is an Internet Service Provider (ISP) in Brazil, whereas in all other markets it is a nonsubscriber portal, but that may change with time. "We will decide in the year 2000 whether we become an ISP or not," said the official. It recently sold a 12.5 percent stake to international investors, including Reuters Group Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: RTR.L), for $100 million, which would give it an $800 million private equity value. UOL does not rule out following in the footsteps of other players and making an initial public offering, but Vieira said he was not at liberty to discuss the issue. In Argentina it earlier this month sold a 25 percent stake to publishing group Perfil. Details of the deal were not disclosed, but Vieira said they include giving UOL users free access to online versions of Perfil's popular news magazines. In the eyes of Vieira there are three powerhouses in the Internet Spanish speaking world -- Mexico, Spain and Argentina. By launching dedicated sites in all three plus Venezuela, Chile and Colombia, "we are covering 90 percent of the market." UOL derives 85 percent of its Brazilian revenues from subscribers and the rest from advertisement and e-commerce. But e-commerce is still scant in the region: between $70 million and $400 million according to different estimates, more than 80 percent of which comes from Brazil. Still, all analysts expect an exponential growth of online trade and all major players are trying to woo Latin users into double-clicking from home rather than driving to the store to do their shopping.