Are Internet Stocks The Dumb Blondes Of The Business World?
Fiona Rotherham 09/22/1999 Independent Business Weekly 18 Copyright Pauanui Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. The odds are on New Zealand investors joining the Internet fervour sweeping world sharemarkets. Our top two Internet service providers, Telecom’s Xtra and Ihug, are mulling over possible listings. If they take the plunge, they will be the first “pure” Internet stocks on the New Zealand Stock Exchange. Why would they do it? Despite Internet stocks’ recent rollercoaster ride in the US, adding “dotcom” to your name is still attractive. A survey by the Wall Street bible Barron’s found 77 people had gained fortunes on the US sharemarket worth more than $US100 million in the year to June. Two-thirds of the 36 initial public offerings creating the multi-millionaires were Internet-related stocks. Telecom expects to make a decision within months on whether to spin off Xtra. It has been talking to the market for some time about its options. A Warburg Dillon Read report last month
