Chris Nerney

The year began with Internet stocks on a roll that started in the fourth quarter of ’98 and continued virtually uninterrupted into April. That surge was reflected in internet.com’s Internet Stock Index, which gained 110.7 percent in the first four months of 1999, rising from 286.73 on Dec. 31 to close at 604.10 on April […]

There are a growing number of Internet companies that provide venture capital for ‘Net start-ups, including CMGI (CMGI), Internet Capital Group (ICGE) and internet.com (INTM). But only one is invoking a higher power in its bid to fund winners in the B2B e-commerce sector. That company is divine interVentures, which has filed with the SEC […]

When an Internet company announces quarterly earnings that fail to meet analysts’ expectations and posts a relatively modest 63 percent in quarterly revenue growth over the previous year, you would expect its stock to take a pounding from the market. Unless, of course, the company and its stock are floating on that bubble within the […]

Internet stocks in recent days have been hit by the market equivalent of wind shears, as increasing bullishness about ‘Net stocks has clashed with investors’ urge to take profits and re-tool their portfolios. It has made for a rough ride of late, with ‘Net stocks soaring one day and plummeting the next, and sometimes doing […]

By all indications, it is the most popular site specifically selling the most popular product category during this year’s record online shopping season. Yet shares of eToys.com (ETYS) continue to fall. In trading Thursday, ETYS dipped below $40 per share for the first time since mid-August, back when eToys stockholders were eagerly awaiting a fall […]

A seemingly endless supply of companies, along with DoubleClick and CMGI’s voracious appetites, could make the advertising/marketing sector as popular as B2B e-commerce stocks next year. It resembles not so much a chess match as a race to buy up all the pieces on the board. Online ad services and direct marketing rivals DoubleClick (DCLK) […]

As the only large, publicly traded company focusing exclusively on investing in Internet firms, CMGI (CMGI) for a long time enjoyed a reputation among investors and analysts as a unique, one-stop ‘Net portfolio service. Buy some shares of CMGI, it was often said, and you’re buying a basket of Internet stocks. But rival Internet Capital […]

A reader wrote recently with a problem: She had invested in Terra Networks (TRRA) when it went public on Nov. 18. The offer price for shares of the Spanish Internet access provider was $13.41. The stock opened at 52-3/4, our reader jumped in at 52-1/4, and shares dropped from there to close at 31-1/2. (TRRA […]

They’re the brash, annoying cousin of e-tail Web sites, but in recent days investors have treated them like holiday royalty. They are the online direct marketers, companies like FreeShop.com (FSHP) and Cybergold (CGLD), whose sites are multimedia billboards of special offers, bonus points and just plain FREE stuff! And according to the latest figures from […]

Investors who hung tough with Web hosting firm Digital Island through a summer of sluggish stock performance had their faith rewarded in late October when shares of ISLD soared from the low $20s to close as high as $73 per share on Nov. 3. Hopefully they didn’t cash out during November’s backslide, when ISLD receded […]

Remember when the “free ISP” movement heated up over the summer? Firms such as British access provider Freeserve (FREE) and NetZero (NZRO), which targets the U.S. market, were touted as giant-slayers whose advertising-based business models would steal millions of customers from suddenly imperiled ISPs that charge a monthly fee. While this faith in the free […]

Everyone knows that many Internet companies — as well as wannabe Internet companies — choose a “.com” name to make themselves more attractive to customers and investors. Another increasingly popular naming strategy is to become an “e” company, especially as the market’s focus shifts from the broader Internet to the more specific world of e-commerce. […]