Chris Nerney

We’ve turned the corner, right? Stocks are up for four days straight now, the Consumer Confidence Index for March shows a big upside surprise, and interest rates were just hacked by a half-point, with the promise of more cuts on the way. Good ol’ irrational exuberance is saddling up and ready to ride again! Not […]

It was a bad trading session for all stocks, but Internet and technology shares in particular were hammered Wednesday as investors put an abrupt halt to a four-day rally. Several serious earnings warnings and layoff announcements after Tuesday’s closing bell, notably from Palm and Nortel Networks, doomed trading from the start. (For earnings reports, visit […]

Since the commercialization of the Internet in the mid ’90s, much attention and hype have been focused on the convergence of this dynamic new, interactive communications medium with traditional media. A revolution was promised, and it’s fair to say this promise has been kept. Today consumers can download songs from Napster (yes, you still can) […]

Wall Street expected the worst from March’s Consumer Confidence Index on Tuesday. What investors got instead was a surprisingly upbeat CCI number and a fourth consecutive day of gains for tech and Internet stocks. ‘Net tickers led all advancers, with internet.com’s Internet Stock Index, or ISDEX, climbing 3.0% to 229. The Dow Jones rose 260.01 […]

As expected, stocks mostly tread water Monday as investors focused on Tuesday’s release of the Consumer Confidence Index for March. Internet stocks fared well, as internet.com’s Internet Stock Index, or ISDEX, rose 1.57% to 222.31. The Dow Jones gained 182.75 to 9687.53, a 1.92% increase, while the Nasdaq slipped 10.19 to 1918.49, a loss of […]

A tiny spark of hope was ignited for tech and Internet investors last week when the Nasdaq and ‘Net stocks posted consecutive gains on Thursday and Friday. Whether that spark can be fanned into the kind of flame needed to heat up this frigid market may depend in large part on the Consumer Confidence Index […]

Thursday’s gains for the Nasdaq and internet.com’s Internet Stock Index were like welcome a breath of fresh spring air, but they did little to help weary tech investors dig out from a deep pile of winter losses. The ISDEX gained 8.04, or 3.9%, to close at 212.29 on Thursday, while the Nasdaq climbed 67.48, or […]

Bouncing back from a midday downturn, both “old economy” and tech stocks finished a rough week of trading on a positive note Friday. The Dow Jones gained 115.30, or 1.2%, to close at 9,504.78, while the Nasdaq rose 31.28, or 1.7%, to 1,928.98. The S&P 500 advanced 22.32, or 2.0%, to 1,139.90. (For earnings reports, […]

Blue-chip stocks spent almost all of Thursday well into bear territory before a late-day rally helped them escape. Meanwhile, tech and Internet stocks gained ground as nervous investors continued to look for signs of relief. The Dow Jones fell 97.52 to 9389.48, just 11 points above the 9378.38 mark (20% below its all-time high of […]

Market watchers like to cite “capitulation” by investors – the mass selloff of stocks across all sectors – as a key indicator signaling a bear market has bottomed out. This week we’ve seen a different kind of capitulation, with two ‘Net companies uttering the phrase dreaded by investors everywhere: Our stock is essentially worthless. On […]

I support Napster. And not, mind you, because I buy into the silly, self-serving notion that “all music should be free.” Rather, I view Napster and its music file-sharing variants as powerful catalysts that could eventually force welcome changes upon an industry that has made billions of dollars over many, many years through the exploitation […]

In the first full session of trading after the Federal Reserve’s half-point rate cut, tech and Internet stocks went on a rocky ride Wednesday before finishing the day down. The ISDEX fell 6.5, or 3.1%, to 204, while the Nasdaq tumbled 28, or 1.5%, to 1830. The S&P 500 lost 21 to end at 1122, […]