From NY Post:

The .coms are turning into .bombs.

The high-flying Internet stocks, so recently the big favorites of investors, are crashing and burning faster than you can say "IPO."

Many of the online companies that had their initial public offerings within the past two years and watched their stocks zoom higher are now trading below their IPO prices.

And even as the technology-packed Nasdaq composite index stemmed a losing streak by turning up yesterday, many of the individual stocks in the Internet sector continued to slump -- with close to a dozen hitting all-time lows.

Yesterday's big losers included Agency.com, Fogdog, Egghead and Fashionmall.com.

"A lot of these companies were like premature babies, born before they were ready to go, and they needed a lot of care before their viability was assured," said Peter Cohan, author of E-Profit and president of Cohan & Associates, a venture capital and management consulting firm for technology companies.

"It used to be that venture capital firms or private investors would hand-hold a company through this difficult period," Cohan said. "But now public investors are left holding the bag."

Those same public investors couldn't have been happier last year when they bid a stock like iVillage.com from its IPO price of $24 to a high of $130. These investors didn't seem to care that iVillage is not yet a profitable firm.

But now, with the stock trading below the IPO price -- it closed yesterday at $21.38 -- investors are not so happy.

And iVillage is but one of dozens of Internet stocks that have fallen precipitously.

These companies aren't flirting with correction. They are in a raging bear market that some strategists believe could trip up the entire market.

"The story is mania," said Rick Berry, director of equity research at Centennial Capital. "The Internet mania has already started to unravel, but that's just the beginning. I worry where this trend might take us."

Even the subsectors of Internet stocks -- like the online brokerages, for example -- that are still trading higher than their IPO prices are significantly lower than their 52-week highs.

In fact, a list of the biggest .com winners from last year corresponds almost exactly with the list of the biggest losers so far this year.

Consider, for example, the fate of MyPoints.com, the unprofitable Web site where consumers can track their participation in loyalty programs like airline frequent flier plans. Last year, it shot up from its IPO price of $8 to close the year at $74. So far this year, it has lost 37.33 percent to yesterday's close of $46.38. Another big loser is Tickets.com, down 29.26 percent this year after a breathtaking ascent last year.

"As the realization sets in that the evaluations of these stocks are vaporous, investors are selling off the 'concept' names in favor of the companies with a proven business model," said Linda Killian, a portfolio manager at Renaissance Capital.

-- Look out below (@ .), March 22, 2000

Answers

our banking system is a house of cards. looks like we have done the same to the stock market. gosh, i wonder when we will get a big wind and everyone will end up poor except the rich/elites. maybe that is what they want?

-- tt (cuddluppy@aol.com), March 22, 2000.

surprise surprise

back into blue chips then

-- richard (ohsirrichard@aol.com), March 22, 2000.

Market goes up,(IOUs=Stocks and "Securities"),You the CONSUMER loses. Its as simple as that.

-- Divestor (not@risk.com), March 23, 2000.

"What a difference a day makes" dept.

NYPOST - 23-3-00

TECH STOCKS REBOUND By BETH PISKORA The Nasdaq soared, but other major market averages struggled after investors moved back into high-growth tech stocks. The Nasdaq composite index turned in the best performance of any major market average, roaring ahead 153.07, or 3.25 percent, to 4,864.75.

But the Dow Jones industrial average slipped 40.64 to 10,866.70, while the S&P 500 index added only 6.77 to 1,500.64. Even the relentlessly bullish Abby Joseph Cohen failed to prop up the troubled stock market.

"Our year-end S&P 500 price target is being raised to 1,575," the Goldman Sachs strategist said. "We are boosting 2000 profit estimates based on upwardly revised economic growth expectations."

She boosted her year-end target for the Dow to 12,600.

The technology-packed Nasdaq posted its second day of strong gains, after moving lower earlier in the week. Part of the reason is inflows into tech-oriented mutual funds.

Investors put $17 billion in funds in the past three days, with one-third of that total earmarked for funds that buy technology stocks, according to Mutual Fund Trim Tabs, which tracks new purchases and redemptions.

Meanwhile, the mid-cap sectors of the market saw more action yesterday, as investors did some bargain shopping.

-- W0lv3r1n3 (W0lv3r1n3@yahoo.com), March 23, 2000.