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To: TFF who wrote (590)	1/21/1999 10:15:00 PM
From: TFF	Respond to of 2802

No Quote.com IPO for Now News Special January 21, 1999 by Phil Harvey On his second official day as Quote.com president and CEO, Robert Honeycutt says he watched intently as shares of MarketWatch.com Inc. rose 474 percent on their first day of trading. On Jan. 15, the stock roared ahead $80.50 to close at $97.50. "From our perspective it's good to see the interest in the Internet financial segment among retail investors," says Honeycutt, who's no stranger to IPOs. He served previously as COO of Barra Inc., an investor in Quote.com that he helped take public while working as vice president of corporate finance for Hambrecht & Quist LLC. Will Quote.com follow in the footsteps of MarketWatch.com anytime soon? "Obviously going public is an alternative that we're discussing," he says. "But we also have other alternatives and other sources of funds." It's not the first time the company has chosen to walk alone. In recent months, acquisition rumors involving Quote.com have distracted the company from its business development and marketing agenda, says Honeycutt. But when Quote.com handed him the reins, the company used the occasion to declare that it was going to remain independent. Although he will not say which companies were interested, CNBC, E-Trade and Intuit were reported as suitors by the press. How close was Quote.com to a deal? Honeycutt says none of the discussions ever progressed to the point of coming to a vote with the board. Before his appointment, Honeycutt says he met with each of Quote.com's board members and was assured that private funding would be available if the company needed it. "We're still open to discussions with strategic partners," he says, "but we're not for sale." The Next Level As the public's interest in online financial information and investing reaches a fever pitch, Honeycutt has his work cut out for him. His challenge is to help the company shake off its somewhat turbulent past and build a solid consumer brand that stands out in a market segment that's becoming more and more crowded. With an IPO unlikely in the near future and merger discussions shelved for now, Honeycutt says his attention is going to be focused on improving Quote.com's consumer experience and brand. Doing so entails providing more financial guidance and more sophisticated educational tools for the site's subscribers, Honeycutt says. "Right now we have a lot of information on our home page and it's very dense. I think that needs to be set up in a way that's organized under themes so users can better get what they want." And as the company lacks both the major media parent (CBS Broadcasting Inc.) and market visibility of its competitor MarketWatch.com, brand building has become a Quote.com priority. "Our awareness in the marketplace is a lot lower than it should be," he points out. Comparing his company to MarketWatch.com, he says, "Our revenue is higher, our page views are higher, and our technology is stronger." So while the MarketWatch.com people might have a thing or two to say about that, one thing to be sure of is that the online financial battle will continue to be hotly contested.

To: TFF who wrote (590)	1/24/1999 9:05:00 PM
From: TFF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2802

Final Frontier Watchlist(updated): Market Mood: Market determined to take profits and squeeze margin players. Hopefully some capitulation in the morning will signal a turn.Otherwise it will be "keep shorting the bounces". Factors Effecting Market Mood: The Fed/Bonds - might be an issue Many net IPO's - not an issue yet Net Bubble - an issue Seasonal retirement savings inflows to mutual funds - an issue Japan - non issues so far Impeachment - non issue so far Iraq - non issue so far Y2K - non issues so far MSFT trial - non issue so far Latin America - an issue Anticipation Trades: CYCH,EBAY 26th,MSPG 27th.CNET - Feb 10 Gaps Trades Tomorrow(Hot Today): (+10%>)RCNC AMZN CDNW ONSL MALL BCST (-10%>) Final Frontier Watchlist I techstocks.com Final Frontier Watchlist II techstocks.com Final Frontier Graveyard techstocks.com Sector Trades - Internet Sector: Portals: YHOO AOL SEEK LCOS XCIT INKT CNET GNET NSCP INSP ISP's: MSPG ELNK ATHM RMII RCNC GEEK EFinancial Services: EGRP MKTW PQT MARG NTBK DBCC TRAC SCH NDB SWS SIEB JBOH NITE TSCN Etailers: AMZN SKYM KTEL CDNW NTKI PPOD EWBX COOL EGGS CYSP DLIA AAGP TMCS MZON CDWI DRIV SPLN SHRP ONHN ETravel: IFLY PTVL FLYR EAuctioners: EBAY ONSL UBID MALL BII EAudio & Video: BRCM VCSI LHSPF GMGC VOCLF NSPK IDTC ETEL RNWK BCST NAVR AHWY SEVL ECommerce Software CYCH MAIL OMKT MACR EAdvertising: NETG DCLK NSOL TFSM CMGI ZD ECommunities: TGLO GCTY XMCM Final Frontier Graveyard: RMBS GERN XYBR NEOT CFON OXHP CD CIEN DAOU PAIR ZAP INFO GRIN GWRX UCMP WCAP WAVO ELBO AMEN DECC GEER