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Technology Stocks : CMGI What is the latest news on this stock? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Millionairess who wrote (5795)	3/12/1999 1:20:00 AM
From: Gary105	Respond to of 19700

Why is CMGI paying such a high tax rate? This past Q it was 50%, earlier it was 40%, are these long term capital gains still taxed at a high rate because they are realized by a corporation. If so, this can have substantial long term impact on how CMGI is valued, ie if it only keeps 50 or 60% of the value of its assets upon sale. Maybe thats why WEB rarely sells shares of companies he purchases. Comment: Revenue growth, while strong (100%) does not justify several hundred % increase in share price. Operating loss continues at $20M per Q (I believe analysts were looking for half that amount). Question: in Feb there were posts about CMGI selling 900k shares of LCOS. This does not match with gain on LCOS. Does anyone know exactly how many shares they sold?

To: Millionairess who wrote (5795)	3/12/1999 2:12:00 AM
From: B. A. Marlow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 19700

Believe split question was "axed" FOUR times, Millionairess. You're on it. Really should have commented to the thread that perhaps the most priceless and vicarious thrill from the two-hour conference call was the spontaneous, "back of the envelope" banter between Wetherell and his CFO trying to figure out by how many authorized shares they would not make a 3:1 split. (Accounting for the dilution factors tripped them up.) The pace of the conference call was dense and slow and you had to have remained awake to appreciate the significance and humor in this...Kodak Moment. It's not just that they want to give the impression that a split isn't a key issue, it's that they somehow think it would be politically incorrect. (The LCOS controversy is casting a long and messy PR shadow, and everybody's uncomfortable with it in this uncertain state of suspended animation. So you can't really disagree with management about not announcing a split; sort of bad form.) They were obviously tired and hadn't figured on getting sucked into this investor's way cool question. It was a brilliant (if unintended) maneuver, right out of "Perry Mason." (When you find the segment--very near the end--mark the time for us!) Again, CMGI's results were great and the initiatives are awesome, no...INCOMPREHENSIBLE! Wall Street will be deconstructing this quarter for weeks. Nobody can quite figure out whether they met the First Call number or whether it matters. (Close enough, and it doesn't!) Bottom line: These guys spit out so many performance metrics and business development signals so matter-of-factly, you just KNOW they're gonna invade Poland! BAM P.S. Based on a few snippets from the conference call, my take on the LCOS deal is this: USAI and LCOS rushed into the merger announcement and messed up the public presentation. Given the inevitable outcome that investors would perceive it as creating BKS out of AMZN, it should have been "spun" as a LCOS acquisition of TMCS and the USAI assets, with the LCOS name surviving. Think that hook would have been perceived as accretive to LCOS and would have sold investors. Guess Diller's ego was in the way. With Morgan Stanley now in the picture, anything could happen; it's a tough call. Still think the deal can get done, though. Note that Wetherell is not saying "no," only that he's looking for better "buzz." And let's be clear: No matter with whom, the LCOS deal gets done with funny money. Comments?