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Non-Tech : pamc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: RON BL who wrote (266)5/5/1999 9:28:00 AM
From: Goodboy  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 570
 
When someone sees their income drop or a downturn in the economy occurs, what will they do? Seek out ways to make their mandatory monthly bills smaller without sacraficing quality or convenience or will they run to E-bay and start bidding for discretionary spending items.

I maintain that as large and as potentialy profitable the untapped e-market for insurance is, the real "foundation" here is that this is a neccesity. It is a product that people are not looking to compromise quality. A product that they are looking for to simplify their lives, not complicate them further (we all know what filing and dealing with claims is like). A product by which the internet channel offers distinct advantages to all involved from the consumer, the on-line broker and the insurance company. Above all, the consumer is getting a quality policy from a selection of the top insurance companies in the country (and the world) with more insurers being lined up every month.

So all those internuts should be looking here. This company has as much, if not more potential to make money (and faster) than any of those business models which are supported by advertising, auction pricing or heavy discounting of retail product.

What seperates Healthaxis from lets say a E-trade, Ameritrade or an on line mortgage banker is pretty simple. These other guys rely on volume, a booming market, new home sales, dropping interest rates (for refinancing)and new customer volume. Needless to say, when the market isn't booming, new customers and volume will be hard to come by for these e-brokerage firms and their profits will suffer as they advertise to bring on new clients. As for e-mortgage, a slow down in new home sales or an end to the refinancing boom of the last few years will hurt them big time. These companies have highly cyclical business models that make their equity value vulnerable (as if they weren't already at these high levels).

Good old Healthaxis will just keep selling policies bringing a larger and larger audience and customer base to the benefits of on-line insurance. They save money, they have easy access to claims and information on their policy and save on the clutter and hassle of paper work. Of course, Healthaxis has something none of these other models do. An annuity. Chances are, a customer will renew their policy and Healthaxis will get a piece of that too. Maybe they will move or decide on a different policy because their life situation has changed. Healthaxis will then get a new policy sale. Lastly, they will in time cross market other forms of insurance and pass along the same savings (form cutting out the old line broker channel).

I don't think the internut stocks will hold their wacky values beyond 1999. I do know that this company is a great example of a model that will work, prosper and deliver profits. Not to justify where other internut stocks are trading, but I can see why Gary is so damn bullish on this company. Come good times, this company will thrive adding new customers and profits. Come bad times, it will likely do even better. The June 1st launch date with AOL will put this company on the map with all e-commerce investors and Gary's strong report will likely be a catalyst for several other analysts to pick up coverage on the only on-line health/multiline insurance broker on the net (and public). If the market holds up, it could get stupid.