http://www.ragingbull.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=CMGI&read=59600
> By: mcnulty
> Reply To: None
> Saturday, 22 Jan 2000 at 12:50 PM EST
> Post 59600 # of 62230
>
> Phileo|WN|AV|Flood Plain
>
> (Posted earlier to TMF.)
>
> Phileo in post 28523:
> The b2b e-commerce companies that are currently associated w/
> CMGi are all @Ventures investments. All the Wall Street suits
> believe that b2b will be big this year. Why doesn't CMGi acquire
> some more b2b e-commerce companies to own and operate/incubate?
>
> CMGi has announced the launch of a $1 billion B2B venture fund,
> and in fact the fund has already made its first investment.
>
> WeatherNut in post 28531:
> Here's the latest on money market fund balances:
>
> Thanks, WN! Here's the text:
>
> U.S. money market mutual fund assets rose in week 01/20/00
> WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Total money market mutual fund
> assets rose to $1.662 trillion in the week ended Jan. 19 from
> $1.651 trillion the prior week, an industry trade group said
> Thursday.
>
> ICI said assets of the nation's retail money market mutual funds
> increased by $1.51 billion to $957.68 billion in the week.
>
> Of the retail funds, assets of the taxable money market funds
> increased by $983.5 million to $793.75 billion, while assets of
> the tax-exempt funds increased by $527.6 million to $163.93
> billion, the group said. ICI said assets of institutional money
> market funds increased by $10.14 billion to $704.70 billion. Of
> these, assets of the taxable money market funds increased by
> $10.37 billion to $653.57 billion, while assets of the tax-exempt
> funds decreased by $230.5 million to $51.13 billion, it said.
>
> Cash inflows continue and the Nasdaq is hitting new highs. The
> money has to go somewhere and a lot of it appears to be chasing
> sectors. Generic Inets are hot, then biotechs, then telecomms,
> then B2Bs, then high-techs, and the new hot sector appears to be
> fuel cells.
>
> I have a rhetorical question, too, with regard to AltaVista.
>
> Look at how important this asset has become. CMGi is building AV
> into the hub of its virtual world, terra firma virtu, as it were.
> Without it, all of its websites are like stars in the cosmos,
> beautiful to look at but lacking familial connection.
>
> AV has first-rate search technology, cutting edge language
> capabilities, a growing international stewardship, and its
> viewership is expanding.
>
> Expectations are high for its public offering, tentatively
> scheduled for March. Aggressive prognosticators on the message
> boards look at Yahoo!'s market capitalization, around $90
> billion, and predict AltaVista's valuation could vault to as much
> as a third of that right out of the gate.
>
> Might happen, might not happen. But if it does, what a return on
> investment, considering CMGi acquired AV for $2.3 billion.
>
> CMGi is looking for AV to give Yahoo! a run for its money in the
> race to be the web's preeminent portal. AV does not have to
> ascend to the summit in March. Dave Wetherell and Rod Schrock
> know how to grow the company and there will be sustained effort
> that will translate into ever rising value for AV.
>
> This, in turn, will raise the floor of support for CMGI.
>
> So, again, look at the importance we have come to place on
> AltaVista, and then stop to consider that *CMGi announced the
> acquisition of AltaVista last June.*
>
> We have owned the asset for only seven months.
>
> When you watch an investment as closely as we watch CMGi, days
> seem like weeks, minutes like hours. Breaking news at market
> open is ancient news by lunch, and shareholders clamor for more!
>
> So a relatively recent acquisition can seem like the stuff of
> myth and legend.
>
> This is one reason I resist the urge to place artificial
> restraints on the growth of CMGi. AV-type announcements can come
> out of nowhere at any time.
>
> CMGi's business model does not lend itself to confinement.
>
> In Africa, there is a broad plain, about the size of Texas, that
> for half the year is parched. With the arrival of spring, snow
> melts in the mountain range to the north and the plain begins to
> flood, ever so slowly. The film footage is fun to watch. The
> water seeps into each small depression in the ground, rises to
> fill it, a tiny rivulet breaks to fill an adjacent depression,
> another rivulet forms, and gradually and inexorably hundreds of
> square miles of arid plain are transformed into lush flora.
>
> Before and after satellite photos of the region tell the story.
> Before, desert beige. After, dark green.
>
> The Internet|flood plain metaphor is strongest in one particular:
> absent constraints, the flood|growth is unstoppable.
>
> The metaphor is weakest in two particulars, both in CMGi's favor.
> CMGi's growth is much faster and, unlike the natural process, is
> not seasonal and reversible.
>
> As one Internet growth area matures, CMGi can launch initiatives
> in other areas. At the moment, the company is building businesses
> in content, infrastructure, access, marketing and commerce.
>
> These businesses will grow to generate a diverse revenue stream.
> This in turn will support enterprises in new technologies.
>
> The business model is ideal for the virtual universe.
>
> Arthur C. Clarke was asked if the cosmos was stranger than we
> imagine. He responded that the cosmos was stranger than we can
> imagine.
>
> It makes me think we can't estimate how large the pure-play
> Internet firms can get. Which means the potential for our
> investments is open-ended.
>
> Regards,
>
> Ron
discovered via Wetherell's endorsement:
http://www.ragingbull.com/mboard/boards.cgi?board=CMGI&read=59685
> By: dwether
> Reply To: 59600 by mcnulty
> Saturday, 22 Jan 2000 at 5:03 PM EST
> Post 59685 # of 62230
>
> McNulty: Your rivulet analogy of CMGI's business model is the
> best description of CMGI thus far. It is precisely what we have
> going on here. The Web is just such a leverage of multiple
> tributaries coming together is a stronger way, and CMGI's model
> is to invest in and build upon this phenomenon.
>
> Thanks for the post.
>
> Regards,
> David
--
Gerald Oskoboiny <
[email protected]>
http://impressive.net/people/gerald/