If you had invested $532.83 for one share of each of the stocks in ISDEX at December 31, 1996 closing price (or IPO price if not trading then) that same basket of shares would be worth $792.28 on December 31, 1997.
On average you would have paid $15.22 per share for the lot worth an average $22.64 at year’s end. That’s a 49% simple weighted average gain, far better than the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P.
Said another way, even though half the stocks shown posted losses, the winners won enough to more than offset this. In fact, the top 10 stocks were up triple digit, carrying the fallen from grace at the bottom of our year-end analysis tally.
Sure, the geometric average of ISDEX showed only a slight upside for the year. A geometric average weights each stock equally in order to level the playing field of small and larger caps. In doing so it serves as a barometer of the big picture, the overall sense of where Wall Street meets the Web, and not a portfolio manager method of accounting for ups and downs, the dollars gained and lost on the roller coaster Internet investment vehicle.
Here’s the percent and dollar-value changes locked in from December 31, 1996 to December 31, 1997:
Following The Money: ISDEX 1997
| ISDEX ® | Ticker | 31-Dec-97 | % change | Point | 31-Dec-96 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet Stock Index | symbol | from | change | ||
| close | 31-Dec-96 | 31-Dec-96 to | or IPO * | ||
| or IPO * | 31-Dec-97 | ||||
| ISDEX Average | 99.87 | 0.4% | 0.37 | 99.50 | |
| NASDAQ | 1,570.35 | 21.6% | 279.32 | 1,291.03 | |
| DJIA | 7,908.25 | 22.6% | 1,459.98 | 6,448.27 | |
| S&P 500 | 970.43 | 31.0% | 229.69 | 740.74 | |
| (sorted by most % gained) | |||||
| Yahoo! | YHOO | $69.25 | 511% | $57.92 | $11.33 |
| Mindspring | MSPG | $33.63 | 449% | $27.50 | $6.13 |
| Lycos | LCOS | $41.38 | 294% | $30.88 | $10.50 |
| VocalTec | VOCLF | $20.50 | 249% | $14.63 | $5.88 |
| Amazon.Com * | AMZN | $60.25 | 235% | $42.25 | $18.00 |
| Onsale * | ONSL | $18.00 | 200% | $12.00 | $6.00 |
| Excite | XCIT | $30.00 | 193% | $19.75 | $10.25 |
| America Online | AOL | $90.50 | 172% | $57.25 | $33.25 |
| @Home Network * | ATHM | $25.13 | 139% | $14.63 | $10.50 |
| E*TRADE | EGRP | $23.00 | 100% | $11.50 | $11.50 |
| Earthlink Network * | ELNK | $25.75 | 98% | $12.75 | $13.00 |
| Open Text | OTEXF | $13.38 | 95% | $6.50 | $6.88 |
| CheckPoint Software | CHKPF | $40.75 | 87% | $19.00 | $21.75 |
| Netcom | NETC | $24.00 | 85% | $11.00 | $13.00 |
| CMG Info | CMGI | $30.25 | 81% | $13.50 | $16.75 |
| Forefront | FFGI | $7.81 | 42% | $2.31 | $5.50 |
| Infoseek | SEEK | $10.75 | 39% | $3.00 | $7.75 |
| Mecklermedia | MECK | $24.88 | 26% | $5.13 | $19.75 |
| Security Dynamics | SDTI | $35.75 | 13% | $4.25 | $31.50 |
| CNET | CNWK | $29.50 | 2% | $0.50 | $29.00 |
| Trusted Information Systems | TISX | $10.00 | -7% | -$0.75 | $10.75 |
| Versant Object Technologies | VSNT | $13.81 | -26% | -$4.81 | $18.63 |
| Network Solutions * | NSOL | $13.13 | -27% | -$4.88 | $18.00 |
| Open Market | OMKT | $9.63 | -29% | -$3.88 | $13.50 |
| Individual | INDV | $4.25 | -29% | -$1.75 | $6.00 |
| Security First Net Bank | SFNB | $7.25 | -29% | -$3.00 | $10.25 |
| Raptor | RAPT | $13.25 | -34% | -$6.88 | $20.13 |
| CyberCash | CYCH | $12.69 | -45% | -$10.31 | $23.00 |
| CKS Group | CKSG | $14.13 | -49% | -$13.75 | $27.88 |
| PSINet | PSIX | $5.13 | -53% | -$5.75 | $10.88 |
| NetManage | NETM | $2.81 | -53% | -$3.19 | $6.00 |
| Netscape | NSCP | $24.38 | -57% | -$32.50 | $56.88 |
| Spyglass | SPYG | $4.94 | -61% | -$7.56 | $12.50 |
| Quarterdeck | QDEK | $1.63 | -61% | -$2.50 | $4.13 |
| Connect | CNKT | $0.84 | -86% | -$5.28 | $6.13 |
| TOTAL | 792.28 | 49% | 259.45 | 532.83 | |
| SIMPLE AVERAGE | 22.64 | 15.22 |