Chris Nerney

It may not have felt like it – and still doesn’t – but the stock meltdown and cash burnout that scorched the Web world this year was the best thing that could have happened to the Internet economy. With no bubble left to cover balance-sheet weaknesses or forgive flawed strategies, dozens of dot.com businesses were […]

Two years ago, eToys shocked the embryonic e-tail world by emerging as the leading online seller of toys and games. Last year, as the holiday shopping season loomed, it was seen as the Internet toy site to beat, despite facing potentially formidable competition from bricks-and-mortar retailers such as Toys ‘R’ Us and Wal-Mart, each of […]

Nearly a year after the historic deal was announced, it looks like the merger of America Online and Time Warner finally is near consummation. However, not before a gauntlet of government regulators on both sides of the Atlantic pummeled the two media giants to force agreements and concessions designed to protect competitors providing Internet cable […]

So much for the Bush bounce. Nearly every Wall Street watcher expected a “relief rally” once the confusion and uncertainty regarding the presidential election was cleared up. That moment came Tuesday night, when the Supreme Court handed down a decision on Florida vote recounts that essentially handed the White House to Texas Gov. George Bush. […]

Internet ad services market leader DoubleClick wasn’t the biggest gainer Tuesday among members of internet.com’s Internet Stock Index – that honor belonged to PSINet , which soared 49% after announcing another round of layoffs and on rumors that Sprint may be interested in buying the beleaguered access provider. But the fact that DCLK gained at […]

It’s an e-tailer that still derives most of its revenue from non-Internet sources, which, along with the amusing ads featuring William Shatner, might explain why it has gotten less publicity (or notoriety) than chief competitor priceline.com. But though Cheap Tickets may have no high-profile celebrity pitching its low air fares and hotel rooms, the Hawaii-based […]

In May 1999, he predicted the company would be profitable within 24 months. With only five months to go, it now looks like Ask Jeeves is falling somewhat short of CEO Robert Wrubel’s bold proclamation. But Wrubel won’t be at the helm when next May arrives, for he is stepping down from the chief executive’s […]

For a couple of years now, investors looking for affordable blue-chip Internet stocks have had to pass on portal giant Yahoo , even as the company was being touted as one of the few certain winners in the Internet economy. The reason, of course, was that Yahoo shares have been overpriced, even relative to robust […]

No Internet sector has escaped this year’s bear mauling, including current investor favorites such as fiber optic and wireless. Indeed, it’s entirely possible that fewer than 30 ‘Net stocks will post gains in 2000. If so, the Security sector could be represented on that modest list by four or five companies, which would give it […]

By next Wednesday’s market close, internet.com’s Internet Stock Index, or ISDEX, could be in the black. All it has to do is repeat Tuesday’s 65-point performance for the next six trading days. That would get it just over the break-even mark of 860.35 a week from now. Alas, there’s about as much chance that Texas […]

As far back as last spring, investors have been regularly regaled with warnings that our white-hot economy was headed for a cool-down. Indeed, “slower growth” became not only a persistent market mantra, but a policy goal of the Federal Reserve, which spends the better part of the year determinedly tapping the economy’s brakes through a […]

Its shares are down 56% this year, trading near their 52-week lows. Hardly a stirring performance, but in the Great Ticker Meltdown of 2000, many more large-cappers have fared considerably worse (Yahoo and Amazon.com, just to name two, have dropped 82% and 68%, respectively). And that’s the problem with digital certificate and Internet services provider […]