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Non-Tech : Tulipomania Blowoff Contest: Why and When will it end? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mad2 who wrote (3165)	11/3/2000 1:01:12 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 3543

Metamor Worldwide and Xpedior appeared to be turd nuggets...incredible how low they went and took PSI down with them. I could believe that the whole bunch goes Ch.11 Even XPDR has not really much on their books to speak of. Cash-rich dogs, like CLRS are safer bets.

To: Mad2 who wrote (3165)	11/3/2000 1:06:44 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3543

Mad2, the Austrian "auction" ended... bringing in about $600MM, lol. umts.tkc.at

To: Mad2 who wrote (3165)	11/16/2000 1:44:34 PM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 3543

Dot-com Shutdowns Hit 130 for Year, Claim 8,000 Jobs (Update2) 11/16/0 11:49 (New York) Dot-com Shutdowns Hit 130 for Year, Claim 8,000 Jobs (Update2) (Adds latest Internet cutbacks in fifth paragraph.) San Francisco, Nov. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Dot-com companies are closing at a rate of more than one a day, eliminating 8,000 jobs since January, as the collapse in Internet stock prices chokes off the flow of capital keeping startups afloat, according to a new report. As many as 130 dot-com companies have closed since January, according to San Francisco-based Webmergers.com, which tracks Internet mergers and acquisitions. And the pace is accelerating. Through the first half of November, 21 Internet companies closed, almost as many as during all of October, when a record 22 were shuttered. Despite the approach of the holiday shopping season, companies such as Garden.com, Pets.com, Furniture.com and MotherNature.com have closed their doors, victims of investors' reluctance to pump more money into businesses with no realistic prospect of turning a profit. ``The capital drought has gone on long enough that more and more startups are hitting their fume dates,'' said Brian Horey, partner with Equity Growth Management LLC, a New York-based hedge fund, and a 12-year veteran of the venture capital industry. ``We are probably near the peak of shutdown announcements.'' Dot-com companies announced further bad news today. Chicago- based Beautyjungle.com, which provides software and services to the beauty industry, said in a PRNewswire release it will close, cutting 30 jobs. Audiohighway.com, which lets users download and play back audio content, said it fired 21 of its 30 employees to bring expenses in line with revenue. And Chapters Online Inc., a Canadian Internet retailer, said it's firing 73 employees, or 18 percent of its staff, to cut costs. Acquirers Three-fourths of the shutdowns this year have involved Internet retailers. Twenty-six companies serving the business market have also closed. More than a third of the shutdowns have come in California, with New York next at 11 percent, the report said. Webmergers.com said many venture capital firms are busy tending to current portfolios and don't have time to act as matchmakers for struggling firms that might otherwise make attractive acquisition candidates. And traditional ``bricks and mortar'' companies haven't made a big push to acquire failing companies, it said. ``A fair number have inherently flawed business models that offer no value to acquirers, especially those which have their own problems to fix,'' said Horey. ``The last thing a ship taking on water needs is another anchor.'' The Bloomberg U.S. Internet index has declined more than 50 percent from its peak in March. And initial public offerings, which raised an average of more than $18 billion in March and April alone, have since raised an average of only $7 billion a month since then. Venture spending will likely fall in the current quarter for the second straight quarter, the first time that's happened in five years. Venture firms' returns in the second quarter fell to a nine-year low. --Randy Whitestone in the New York newsroom (212) 940-1805 or at rwhitestone@bloomberg.net/jjd Story illustration: to track the performance of the Bloomberg Internet index, enter {BUSNET <Index>GPCT<GO>}.