Internet Update:

Slaughter on Tech Avenue

Dateline: 03/20/00

Canadian Internet Index Index Software E-business E-commerce
Mar. 10, 2000 2318.5 2179.6 2295.1 2449.2
Mar. 17, 2000 2011.8 1829.1 2072.7* 2027.2#

* without BCE Emergis - 2580.5*
# without TD Waterhouse - 4119.0#

The tech markets took a licking and stopped ticking last week. They started a comeback on Thursday, but it wasn't enough to overcome the losses early in the week. And it's reflected in our Movers & Shakers Report where 62 of the 74 on the list were double digit losers. And our Internet Index, seen in the box above, is down over 300 points for the week.

How bad was it? The Financial Post published a short table Thursday showing the declines for some popular tech stocks from their peaks to Wednesday's closing. Ezenet was down 52%, BCE Emergis - 47%, Infowave Software - 41%, Research in Motion - 38%, 724 Solutions - 34%, Unique Broadband Systems - 56%, Wi-Lan - 29% and Sierra Wireless - 41%. All hit those peaks on Mar. 2nd except Wi-Lan (Mar. 1), Unique Broadband (Feb. 17) and Sierra Wireless (Feb. 29).

Does this mark a major reversal and a move back to blue chip old economy stocks? Not necessarily. The economy is still looking good. Profits are rising. The high tech sector is still growing. Next week will be interesting for sure.

Meanwhile, read on for this week's Movers & Shakers Report!

Movers & Shakers

We added a lot of new stocks to our monitored list this week including three moved up from the Penny Stock List. The total of stocks watched for our Movers & Shakers Report is now 155. The debacle in the high tech market last week is evident in the our report. Almost half of the list had double digit moves last week - 74 in all, but only 12 were advancers. 62 were decliners. And of those 12 advancers, the largest gain was only 22.22%. To see the Movers & Shakers as a pop-up chart, click the button. To see it as a separate page with the discussion on the same page, click here.

Topping the list is wireless technology company Diversinet (DVNT - CDN, DVNT - NASDAQ), a developer of security solutions for wireless e-commerce, particularly in the financial sector. The company is international in scope with a recent contract to provide security solutions for Europe's AU-System. It also has major partnerships with companies such as Aether Systems, Research in Motion(RIM), SmartServe Online, Digital Signature Trust(DST) and InfoSpace. The stock price rise comes in anticipation of First Quarter results to be released after market close on March 20th.

This is the second consecutive week of double digit gains for Diversinet which had seen its stock price in a slump for several weeks before that. The Toronto based company trades on the NASDAQ exchange with good volume but is thinly traded on the Canadian Dealing Network.

Second on our list with a 19.05% increase is mBase.com Inc. (MBM - CDNX), a business to business software company that developed InteliCat™, software to coordinate print catalogues with an online database. The company recently announced the release of mBaseKiosk with virtual touch keyboard. This lets companies display products through a touch screen kiosk at trade shows and in their stores. The company is also in the process of raising an additional $4 million in venture capital through special warrants.

mBase.com comes off a 27.59% drop for the previous week, but is up 762.07% for the year to date from $0.58 on January 1st.

Third on our list with an 18.96% gain is new addition Points North Digital Technologies (PNS - CDNX). The Saskatchewan based B2B e-commerce company developed the Peragis online reservation system for travel agencies. It has strategic alliances with Sabre, Galileo, Sprint Canada Inc., Compaq Financial Services Canada and EDS Innovations Inc. and maintains offices in Toronto, Calgary and Saskatoon as well as U.S. offices in Arizona & North Carolina. Driving the week's price jump is its move on March 14th to the Canadian Venture Exchange from the Canadian Dealing Network.

Fourth up with an 18.75% increase is Softkey Software (SSK - TSE), better known as The Learning Company which produces educational software for children and schools. Its products include the popular Reader Rabbit® programs and Cyber Patrol, the screening software that lets parents steer kids clear of the unsavory parts of the Internet. Its subsidiaries include Broderbund, the maker of the popular Carmen Santiago games and Mindscape Entertainment.

The Learning Company was acquired by toymaker Mattel Corporation in May 1999. The American traded shares were exchanged for 1.2 Mattel shares on merger, but the Canadian shares are still listed as Softkey Software on the Toronto Stock Exchange. These shares are exchangeable into 1.2 shares of the common stock of Mattel, Inc. at any time until February 4, 2005 at the option of the holder. The common stock of Mattel, Inc. is not however, exchangeable into the SoftKey Software Products Inc. Exchangeable Non-Voting Shares (SSK).

There was no news driving the stock price, but it may well have been caught up in the surge in the NYSE as old economy stocks, including Mattel, moved sharply upward. In any event, investors think "It's swell!"

And finally, fifth on our list is Fifty-Plus.Net International (FPN - CDNX) which has just graduated to our monitored stocks from our Penny Stock List. The company caters to Canadians fifty and over and is affiliated with the advocacy group, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons. The stock rose 18.18% on release of its Second Quarter results which showed revenues up 50% over the same quarter the previous year and page views at their website up 60% since November.

Fifty-Plus.Net has been a pick of Pat McKeough's Stock Picker's Digest since October 1999 when it traded at $0.95. It declined to $0.41 in December but has been on an upward trend since then. It's up 116.67% since January 1st.

There are only two other stocks on our list besides Diversinet in multiple weeks of double digit gains. WSI Interactive (WIZ - CDNX) and new addition to our list, iWave.com (IWAV - CDN), is both in their third week of double digit gains. Iwave.com was formerly on our Penny Stock List.

While our biggest gainer was up only 22.22%, there were 22 stocks that posted losses of 20% or more. But only Dot.com Technologies (DT - CDNX) and Nexttrip.com (NTP - CDNX) are into a second consecutive week of double digit drops.

Previous Movers & Shakers Reports

Our Weekly Updates

We've put up the new numbers for our Internet Index. You'll also find the complete weekly and YTD changes for all the stocks on our Movers & Shakers Master List. You'll also find new additions to our Penny List.

Canadian Internet Index
Canadian Internet Penny Stock List
Yankee Stock List
Billion Dollar Babies
Movers & Shakers Master List

This week we profile Diversinet. We also link to addition from our Penny Stock List, iWave.com, which we profiled in August and have now updated.

Diversinet
iWave.com
Previous Profiles

Comments? Suggestions? Why not post them on our Bulletin Board or email me.

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03/13/00 - Fear of Heights
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03/09/00 - N is for News!
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