It may be the shortest month on the calendar, but for Internet stocks, February was long, cold and cruel.
Unfortunately, given Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan’s disquieting testimony on the state of the economy to a House panel on Wednesday, there’s a chance March won’t be any better.
Which means that before spring, the tech-heavy Nasdaq, down 22.4% to 2152 in February, could tumble below 2000 for the first time since December 1998.
For its part, internet.com’s Internet Stock Index, or ISDEX, already is at levels not seen since then. The ISDEX fell 3.4% Wednesday to 275, leaving it down 34.7% in February. Due to January’s strong performance, the ISDEX’s year-to-date loss is a relatively less devastating 23.4%. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is off by 12.9% YTD.
As the numbers above show, Internet stocks – just as they did last year – are bearing the brunt of the slump gripping high-tech industries. And with Greenspan testifying that the current economic downturn is not over, all investors have to look forward to is another interest-rate reduction when the Fed meets on March 20. In the face of plunging consumer confidence and other negative indicators, that’s thin gruel for a rally.
February saw only three ISDEX members advance. Those three – EarthLink, Homestore.com and Multex.com – also are the year-to-date leaders. Of the ISDEX decliners, 30 tickers dropped at least 30% last month, with four of those giving up more than 50% of their value.
Only 17 ISDEX stocks have gained YTD, with one other – Hotel Reservations Network – right back where it ended last year.
The ISDEX members below are listed in order of their performances last month. In the third column are the year-to-date numbers:
Feb. 28 Monthly YTD
Ticker Company Close %Change %Change
ELNK EarthLink 9.00 7.4% 78.9%
HOMS Homestore.com 29.88 1.7% 48.4%
MLTX Multex.com 19.38 5.4% 46.3%
ATHM AtHome 5.81 -10.6% 5.1%
DCLK DoubleClick 13.44 -12.6% 22.2%
AOL AOL Time Warner 44.03 -16.2% 26.5%
SCNT Scient 2.94 -19.0% -9.5%
AMTD Ameritrade Holding 8.19 -20.1% 17.0%
ISSX Internet Security Systems 55.75 -21.5% -28.9%
EBAY eBay 38.33 -22.4% 16.2%
RSAS RSA Security 47.50 -23.4% -10.2%
SAPE Sapient 12.88 -23.7% 7.9%
NTOP Net2Phone 10.25 -24.4% 38.9%
VIGN Vignette 6.16 -25.9% -65.8%
ROOM Hotel Reservations 28.38 -26.4% 0.0%
TMCS Ticketmaster-CitySearch 9.31 -27.7% 11.1%
INSP InfoSpace 3.81 -27.8% -56.9%
RNWK RealNetworks 7.19 -29.4% -17.3%
SONE S1 Corp. 7.07 -29.7% 34.7%
TRLY Terra Lycos 11.44 -29.9% 8.3%
CNET CNET Networks 12.44 -30.7% -22.2%
RHAT Red Hat 6.44 -31.0% 3.0%
INKT Inktomi 11.31 -32.2% -36.7%
CMGI CMGI 4.06 -33.8% -27.4%
VRSN VeriSign 47.69 -35.1% -35.7%
ET E*Trade Group 9.01 -35.6% 22.1%
PALM Palm 17.38 -35.9% -38.6%
ARTG Art Technology Group 24.31 -36.0% -20.5%
YHOO Yahoo! 23.81 -36.2% -20.8%
CSCO Cisco Systems 23.69 -36.7% -38.1%
CHKP Check Point Software 64.13 -36.9% -28.0%
AGCX Asia Global Crossing 6.84 -38.9% 4.3%
JNPR Juniper Networks 64.56 -39.1% -48.8%
AMZN Amazon.com 10.19 -41.1
% -34.5%
RIMM Research In Motion 38.69 -41.2% -51.6%
VERT VerticalNet 3.16 -41.6% -52.6%
CMRC Commerce One 17.44 -42.9% -31.1%
PRSF Portal Software 7.16 -44.9% -8.7%
EXDS Exodus Communications 14.63 -45.1% -26.9%
LBRT Liberate Technologies 9.44 -45.4% -30.7%
BVSN BroadVision 7.25 -46.1% -38.6%
OPWV Openwave Systems 36.84 -46.8% -23.2%
ITWO i2 Technologies 26.88 -46.9% -50.6%
RAZF Razorfish 1.16 -48.4% -28.9%
SCMR Sycamore Networks 18.13 -48.6% -51.3%
GOTO GoTo 7.56 -49.6% 3.3%
BRCM Broadcom 49.25 -55.2% -41.4%
CFLO CacheFlow 6.91 -61.6% -59.5%
TIBX TIBCO Software 13.50 -64.4% -71.8%
WFII Wireless Facilities 13.50 -67.0% -62.8%
