Internet Update
Dateline: 08/02/99
Click on the title above to see this week's Movers & Shakers.
We now have 82 stocks on our charts and fuully 30 of them moved by more than 10% last week. Who says Internet stocks aren't a volatile sector! 7 advanced and 23 declined.
Heading the advancers was a penny stock - Rux Resources - which had dropped from nine cents to seven cents the week before and jumped back to ten cents this week. Not surprisingly, fiber optics powerhouse JDS Uniphase shook off its recent decline and soared to new highs, gaining 14.6% for the week Take a look at its stock chart and you'll be impressed by the almost straight line upwards.
Stock pickers Carlton and Timothy Lutz of The Cabot Market Letter recently recommended this stock and even though they are urging caution in the current market with most of their stocks on hold and 14% cash, they still rate JDS Uniphase a buy as of Friday.
The other notable stock recovering from a recent decline is NetNation. It dipped below $4.00 a share despite such cheerleaders as Bill Ridley and Kevin Barker, and is now bouncing back. We'll have to see whether it will still take off as those analysts predict.
But the big news was on the decline side with the continued downward movement of Bid.com and TD Waterhouse. They, along with Microforum and Sikaman Gold are in their second week of double digit decline. Since I started charting double digit moves, no stock has gone three weeks of double digit declines. So maybe there will be a turnaround here.
Bid.com has lost 37.3% in the last two weeks and TD Waterhouse has lost 32.2%. In fact, TD Waterhouse is now trading below its IPO price. Parent TD Bank has also suffered as a result, but not as much as junior.
The biggest decline of the week was Starnet Communications. This high flying Internet gaming stock was hard hit by a threatened lawsuit from LasVegas Casino Inc., claiming Starnet's software was defective. Starnet countered that Las Vegas Casino was miffed because Starnet had cancelled its license because they were over $200,000 in arrears on licensing fees. The stock had lost $10 in intraday trading at one point.
I reported here previously that Starnet had divested itself of its pornography business. That is, in fact, an error. They are downplaying the adult entertainment aspect of their business (you'll find nary a peep about it on their website). But according to recent newspaper reports, the company still generates 40% of its revenues from porn. Starnet was a pioneer in online adult entertainment with its Sizzle site which featured live strippers from Vancouver's # 5 Orange nightclub. Their focus today is on the gaming end of things and the real sizzle has been in their stock price!
Starnet's profit for the quarter ending January 31 was $888,421 on revenue of $2.7-million. That's a profit margin of 32.9% at a time when many Internet companies are still losing money hand over fist. Whether this justifies a market cap of around $500 million US is up to you to decide.
Canadian Internet Stock
Index
Metamorphosis Index
Yankee Index
We added two new stocks to our various indexes this week bringing the total number charted to 82. To our main index, the Canadian Internet Stock Average, we added e-Dispatch.com Wireless Data Inc. The company's been around since the 80's developing and marketing dispatch equipment for fleets, whether taxis or trucks or others. Late last year they integrated the Internet into their products and changed their name from Instep Mobile Communications to e-Dispatch.com Wireless Data.
We added one to our Metamorphosis Index as well. That one is AdvanteXCEL Communications. I'm not sure whether I should include this as a Canadian company or not. It has offices in Toronto and is traded on the Canadian Dealing Network, but its headquarters is in Buffalo, New York and it is traded in U.S. dollars. These two stocks are the subjects of my profiles this week.
I had been planning to add profiles at a faster rate but I'm on vacation right now and am taking time out from lazing in the sun to do this column. What a martyr, eh? Once I'm back up to speed again - then I'll start cranking them out like sausages. As the profiles are done, you'll find them linked from the indexes they are in.
Comments? Suggestions? Why not post them on our Bulletin Board or email me.
E-mail me!
07/26/99 - Internet
Update: Actfit.com and Multiactive Software Profiled
We profile two new stocks added to our indexes as well as our
usual Monday look at the Internet Movers & Shakers.
07/22/99 - Making
Us More User Friendly
We've added a new resource page and tell you all about it.
07/19/99 - Internet
Update: Innofone & NetNation Profiled
Along with our Movers & Shakers list and updates to our
Internet indices, we profile two new additions to our Yankee
Index.
07/16/99 - Best of
the Net: The Fund Library
We profile one of the best mutual fund websites in Canada.
07/14/99 - 6 Month
Mutual Fund Report
Our semi-annual report on funds that made
our Power Performers list for the last six months.
Disclosure: The author owns shares in Stockscape Technologies, JDU Uniphase and Microforum.