In Love with CMGI....... - 500 Beiträge pro Seite

[HollyJones]

CMGI shows them the money, holders show their love

Reuters


By Tony Munroe

BOSTON (Reuters) - It turns out money can buy you love -- if you`re CMGI Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive David Wetherell, the so-called ``Warren Buffett of the Internet.``

Wetherell presided over an annual shareholders meeting of his Internet hothouse Friday, which was likened by two of the 500 attendees in the crowd to ``a rock concert`` and ``a revival meeting.``

And why not? The company`s stock returned 870 percent in the 52 weeks ending Thursday, and a breathtaking 67,040 percent since going public in January 1994.

``My three-and-half-year-old son and I thank you very much for sharing your vision,`` Mary Lou McElhany told Wetherell after the meeting.

McElhany traveled from her home in Charlotte, N.C. ``to see what`s in that brain,`` as she explained it. McElhany bought stock a year ago in CMGI, which invests in and develops so-called ``dot.com`` firms.

Wetherell, whose company capped a hectic week during which it announced consensus-beating earnings, a two-for-one stock split, and the $500 million stock acquisition of yesmail.com Inc., said on Friday CMGI is mulling a public offering of its AtVentures investment arm.

AtVentures holds investments in such firms as Chemdex , Critical Path , Lycos , MotherNature.com , Silknet Software and dozens of other private firms with initial public offer potential.

Wetherell reiterated his recent prediction that CMGI will double its current portfolio of 58 companies to about 120 over the next year.

One shareholder, a finance student at Bentley College, told Wetherell that his professors warn him of an Internet bubble.

Wetherell asked: ``What other industry has companies growing at 1 percent a day? Those companies demand a premium.`` Besides, he said, ``nobody`s forcing people to invest in the Internet.``

Wetherell added: ``I really think we`ve got the best business model in the world for a new economy.``

While he said no talks are taking place that would see CMGI acquire a controlling stake in search engine Lycos Inc. (LCOS.O), he appeared to leave the door open for such a deal. ``If there were reasonable terms, I think it`s a good marriage,`` he said after the meeting, adding that both companies are healthy on their own.

CMGI, which has a controlling stake in rival search engine AltaVista, owns roughly 18 percent of Lycos.

During and after the standing-room-only meeting, Wetherell soaked up repeated plaudits from shareholders.

``I know I speak for everyone in the room when when I say, Eat your spinach. Watch your cholesterol,`` one shareholder admonished the man who has provided many of them with riches.

Wetherell, a fit-looking 45, seemed to revel in the giddiness that surrounds his company and his industry, answering, ``It`s much better than having a bunch of enemies.``

Where investors in traditional companies occasionally gripe that the CEO earns too much money, one asked why Wetherell isn`t paid more.

And unlike the graying, suit-wearing crowds that often populate shareholder meetings, the CMGI event was crammed with young, casually dressed investors and employees. About 70 were members of the Raging Bull stock chat room, a company CMGI recently agreed to acquire.

Ted Mara, a young investor from Harvard, Mass. approached Wetherell: ``I believe wholeheartedly in what you`re doing. Can I have your autograph?`` He wasn`t the only one who asked.


Gute Kurse.

[sovantis]

Company Happenings:

After Friday`s markets closed, Internet search engine AltaVista filed with regulators for an initial public offering that would raise up to $300 million (although the dollar figures typically change by the time of the IPO). AltaVista is 83-percent owned by CMGI Inc. (CMGI), the Internet media and holding company. Although this IPO had been expected, CMGI`s stock was up by more than 3 percent in after-hours trading Friday evening, indicating a rise on Monday morning. Compaq Computer (CPQ), which owns 17 percent of AltaVista after selling the rest to CMGI, was also up 2 percent after hours.

[eslola]

It`s because acc. to Holly Johnson it`s "The Land of the Free where you ca be what you wanna be"
eslola

[Broder_]

Das freut mich umso mehr, weil ich Freitag nochmal günstig rein bin.... :o)

[HollyJones]

CMGI REPORTS LOSS, 2-1 SPLIT, STOCK SOARS

CMGI Inc. (CMGI, $222, up 22) posted a first quarter loss of $117 million
-- narrower than expected -- and unveiled a two-for-one stock split.

COMMENT: What happens when you combine a stock whose price is going
through the roof with better than expected earnings and a stock split?
Investors go crazy, that`s what! This baby is flying, as the illusion of
a lowered price has investors salivating. Why do we say illusion?
Because, as you know by reading The Bull Market Report, a stock split
changes nothing about the stock itself. It only affects the short term
psychology of buyers and sellers. And the psychology on this one is quite
positive

[HSM]

Was ist aus dieser Liebe geworden ?.

[Le Chef]

Na , wie im richtigen Leben halt :
Kurz nach Heirat die ersten Brüllereien , dann der erste handfeste Krach , dann noch einer .... zum Schluß nach der Euphorie folgt der Gang zum Scheidungsanwalt ?

[FSCTLohi]

Hallo,

Alte Liebe rostet nicht, sagt man. Abwarten, Tee trinken und mal schaun wie`s in ein paar Jahren aussieht.

Grüße,
Lothar