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Amen! John Ahaus
-----Original Message-----
From: sarnett@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:sarnett@xxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:sarnett@xxxxxxxxxx] <mailto:[mailto:sarnett@xxxxxxxxxx]>
Sent: Thursday, January 21, 1999 5:58 PM
To: Cliff Veach; Ned Greenberg; 'AC-Barry, Philip'; 'AC-DeHoff
(aol),
Kenneth'; 'AC-Milles, Daniel'; 'AC-Winn, Steven'; 'Fam-Arnett, Amy';
'Fam-Arnett, Patricia'; 'Fam-Arnett, Sarah E.'; 'Frnd-Blackwell, Roger
D.';
'Frnd-Fullerton (rr), Tim'; 'Frnd-Mayer (ix), Ronald'; 'Frnd-Meckley,
John
(EY)'; 'Frnd-Swisher, Bob'; 'Frnd-Unkefer, Ben'
Cc: 'Fam-Dillman(earth), Lynn'; 'Fam-Londeree, Ben'; 'Fam-Powell,
Hollie'; 'F-Meckley, John (hm)'; 'Frnd-Ahaus, Paul C.'; 'Frnd-Cordle,
Brenda'; 'Frnd-Hunt (hot), David'; 'Frnd-Koehler(crww), Ronald';
'Frnd-Rowley (voy), Michael'
Subject: Much of the NASDAQ is becoming a casino for imbeciles.
Much of the NASDAQ is becoming a casino for imbeciles.
That's unfair, cluck speculators. Well, consider some of today's Sure
Things: Amazon.com's $11 billion market valuation is worth more than
Borders
Books and Barnes & Noble combined (Amazon.com still isn't profitable).
EBay,
the auction site, is worth more than Toys "R" Us and Neiman Marcus
combined
(nearly 10 percent of its revenues come from sales of Beanie Babies).
And
only months ago, the stock price of Ticketmaster's Internet IPO
quadrupled
on the first day of trading (its franchise for aging rock stars was sewn
up
years before it came to the Web). Before you bet on the next Sure Thing,
consider some stinkers in the making.
AOL They don't call it AO-Hell for nothing. Chronic busy signals and
obnoxious come-ons are just a few of the problems plaguing this
glorified
ISP. To many, an AOL e-mail address is an embarrassment. The company's
new
partners Netscape and Sun Microsystems mostly add debt, not competitive
advantage, to AOL's fortunes. Your phone company offers better
service-minus the trashy ads. Besides, it costs less.
CDnow This music retailer serves up a searchable catalog that accepts
credit
cards, and arranges for home delivery. Oh wait, Music Boulevard has the
same
service and the same CDs for $1 less. And so do dozens of other sites.
Click-click, bye. Let's not even mention the Internet's huge stash of
free
MP3 tunes. . . .
EToys It staked out Web territory early and it categorizes and reviews
toys
with great finesse. But there's nothing here that competitors-including
outfits like Toys "R" Us-can't copy once their bureaucratic minions get
their act together.
E*Trade At least 70 brokerages have been lured to the Internet. For
most,
the back-office efficiencies of paperless transactions haven't pumped
sunshine into the bottom line. And the increased competition has forced
all
houses to keep slashing commissions. A year ago, rates of $19.95 per
1,000
shares were eye-catching. Now, rates of $14, $12, and even $7 abound.
Travelocity Selling airline seats over the Web will be a
multibillion-dollar
business. But who will do the selling? The airlines-which continue to
slash
commissions they pay to agents-want to bypass travel services
altogether.
After all, why buy the cow?
GeoCities With 19.2 million monthly visitors, the ad potential for this
site
is colossal. But in 1997, the company barely snagged $5 million of a
$906
million online ad market. Why? Advertisers shun the site's
user-generated
content (taxidermy, optometery, whips and chains?).
Yahoo Yes, portals are the Web's blue-chip stocks. But we've all seen
what
cable TV did to the networks. With thousands of new sites flocking to
the
Net every day, advertisers enjoy less expensive ways to target specific
markets. Yahoo's current stock value exceeds that of the New York Times.
You
do the math.
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