This is the Wall Street Universe, by their own admission scroll down and feast your eyes sir.' t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t' TO UNSUBSCRIBE CLICK HERE: mailto:[log in to unmask] October 13, 1999 SUBSCRIPTIONS TO THIS E-MAIL NEWSLETTER ARE ALWAYS FREE!!! Wallstreet Universe welcomes all our new readers as well as those of you who have been with us in the past. We are published once per week to over 25,000 subscribers. You have either subscribed to Wallstreet Universe, Stock Pick Of The Month, or one of our Partner - Associate websites. Here is a description of our newsletter, in case you don't already have it: Wallstreet Universe is a free e-mail based newsletter for people who are interested in the Internet, New Technology, Computers, Small-cap and OTC Growth stocks. We also publish special bulletins and we provide a news service for announcing exciting Corporate Information. IN THIS WEEKS EDITION: 1) Inventions by African Americans 2) Population - Six Billion!!! 3) Virus Alert 4) iexchange - a new Idealab Company 5) Knight/Trimark - one to look at 6) This Weeks Question 7) Costco on a roll 't?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t' INVENTIONS BY AFRICAN AMERICANS: A site that is dedicated to Black people who have made contributions to the world with their inventions. http://www.inventorsmuseum.com/africanam.htm 't?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t' SIX BILLIONTH PERSON BORN YESTERDAY. At U.N. headquarters, a population clock ticked off the world's six billionth human among the 370,000 babies born Tuesday. many are destined for a future of poverty and illiteracy. In Bosnia, visiting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan marked the milestone by honoring a boy, born two minutes past midnight to Fatima Nevic in a Sarajevo hospital, as the world's symbolic six billionth person. Bangladesh organized a parade; London planned a rally and China, with the world's largest population of 1.25 billion people, held an array of ceremonies. It took almost all of human history -- until 1804 -- for our numbers to reach 1 billion. About 150 years later, in 1960, we were 3 billion. Just 40 years after that, we're reaching 6 billion. And more than 1 billion of us are between the ages of 15 and 24. That's the largest-ever generation of young people on the planet, growing up right now. 't?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t' VIRUS ALERT If you receive an email titled "It Takes Guts to Say Jesus" DO NOT OPEN IT!!!!!!!!!1 It will erase everything on your hard drive. This information was announced Monday morning from IBM; AOL states that this is a very dangerous virus, much worse than "Melissa", and that there is NO remedy for it at this time. Some very sick individual has succeeded in using the re-format function from Norton Utilities causing it to completely erase all documents on the hard drive. It has been designed to work with Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. It destroys MacIntosh and IBM compatible computers. This is a new, very malicious virus and not many people know about it. Pass this warning along to EVERYONE in your address book and please share it with all your online friends ASAP so that this threat may be stopped. Please practice cautionary measures and tell anyone that may have access to your computer. Forward this warning to everyone that might access the internet and tell them you were warned by Wallstreet Universe We apprecite your support. 't?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t' GETTING ANALYST FROM BOXER SHORTS NOT SUITS. A startup backed by Idealab of Pasadena, CA and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers hopes to breed a new group of investment analysts. iexchange http://www.iexchange.com launched its services Monday. It gives individuals the opportunity to give investment advice for FREE or to sell it for $1 or more. In turn, iexchange will split the revenue with the authors of the investment report. To provide accountability, iexchange will score the performance of each contributor, showing his or her overall returns, directional and predictive accuracy, and other metrics. "We can bring order and accountability to a vastly disorganized marketplace," said David F. Eisner, iexchange CEO and a former executive at Jefferies & Company, a Los Angeles-based brokerage and investment banking firm. iexchange, joins a growing number of websites, that put value on an individual's opinion such as: epinions.com http://www.epinions.com Productopia.com http://www.productopia.com Predict it.com http://www.predictit.com iexchange hopes to attract newsletter writers, retired professionals who are knowledgable about specific industries, and others interested in selling their investment advice. And just think, here at Wallstreet Universe you get it all for free!!! 't?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t' KNIGHT/TRIMARK, TOO LOW TO IGNORE Knight/Trimark (NASDAQ: NITE) made it official this morning. The third quarter is going to fall well short of expectations. The market maker warned that its quarterly profits will be between $0.17 per share and $0.19 versus the already-reduced consensus estimate of $0.30 per share. CEO Kenneth Pasternak stated "there were decreased trading volumes and greater than expected seasonality in the marketplace." Internet trading was down 5% to 10% for the third quarter, and Knight receives approximately 40% of its business from online brokers. Analyst Sean Chin of Merrill Lynch cut his near-term rating on Knight/Trimark to 'neutral', while maintaining a long-term 'buy' recommendation on the stock. Despite the enormous shortfall, Knight is expected to report revenue of $138 million, 49% better than the prior year. Profits will also show a greater than 40% increase. These numbers pale in comparison to prior quarters however, where 200%-plus growth was achieved when the markets were soaring. There were a few reasons why Knight's stock has persistently sold off. The most obvious has been the market maker's association with online brokers, who own about 20% of the company and still account for about 40% of its transactions. Charles Schwab (NYSE: SCH) Ameritrade (NASDAQ: AMTD) E*Trade (NASDAQ: EGRP)were all cut by more than 50% over the summer. Many investors claimed that summer volume was just seasonably light and would pick up in the fall. Well, a few rate hikes later, trading volume and volatility have yet to pick up from the summer. As a market maker Knight/Trimark thrives on market volatility, especially as trading volume increases. The company makes the bid/ask spread by fronting its own capital to execute trades on the market. When Knight went public last year, about 60% of the shares were owned by Knight management and the online brokers that first created Knight. There was a one-year lockup period in which these 'insiders' could not sell their shares. Even given the stock's turbulent ride, shares are up over 300% from their IPO price. Insider profit-taking was inevitable, but the brokers especially have unloaded a good amount of shares. Don't be too worried though, these brokers have $1 billion in advertising to pay for, and management still owns a significant 29% of the shares outstanding. While Knight's stock price has fallen drastically, its strategy and fundamentals remain strong. In July the company took a 19% stake in the EASDAQ, a European market system similar to our domestic Nasdaq. While the $8 million investment is small, Knight and its partners (including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter) are positioned to coagulate a highly segmented market. The investment could be extremely lucrative for Knight, which already has a European presence with its London office. Knight has also switched over to use Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER)for the clearing of its trades. Knight management said that the deal would save the company 6 cents a share for each trade it makes. Given the company's current volume, this will add 4 cents a share to the bottom line each year. Knight's third quarter results will hamper the stock's performance for the rest of the year. Alot of investors have by now realized the company's long-term potential, as chronicled in many articles. In its short existence and meteoric rise to $81 per share it has rarely known slow times, and people want to see how much leverage Knight's business model can squeeze out of sequentially lower trading volumes. Investors will be looking to the earnings reports from online brokers such as Schwab and E*Trade due later this week, to see how well they handled the slow quarter. Eight out of nine analysts continue to rate Knight a long-term buy, and published 12-month price targets range anywhere from $58 to $98. Charlotte Chamberlain of Jefferies & Co. said that Knight "Is the best buy in the e-brokerage sector-- the company is already profitable." As for the online broker/owners selling, she assured that they have no reason to look elsewhere for their trade execution. With over $250 million in cash and no debt on its balance sheet, look for Knight to be making some more acquisitions -- possibly kick-starting the company's desire to start an options exchange. At $25.56, Knight/Trimark is trading at a mere 19.7 times the Street's fiscal 1999 earnings per share estimate of $1.30 per share. Knight is trading at a gross discount to its earnings potential, considering management said that the company will continue to post at least 30% growth year-over-year. After it clears the hurdle of its third quarter earnings, the road ahead looks very clear for Knight. Knight/Trimark is the largest and most efficient market maker and its recent strategic moves have made the company less dependent on its online trade clearing. The company will prove in the following quarters that its business model will succeed even in slow times. 't?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t' LAST WEEKS QUESTION WAS: Here are three lines of a song from a Comedy-Cult movie. Name the movie that the song comes from? I gave my love a cherry that had no stone. I gave my love a chicken that had no bone I gave my love a story that had no end. THE ANSWER IS: Animal House staring John Belushi THE WINNERS ARE: Chicago_Sailers Joel Thomas Bud Pearce Jim Cannon and John g kimo Congratulations to the winners and please send an e-mail with your name, address and phone number to the below address so that we can mail you your Blockbuster Gift Certificate. mailto:[log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THIS WEEKS CONTEST: Please e-mail your answer to mailto:[log in to unmask] We will award 5 lucky winners chosen at random, who answer the question correctly, a $20 GIFT CERTIFICATE to Blockbuster Video. We will announce the winners on next week's newsletter. QUESTION: The singer Gloria Estefan is the spokesperson for this Internet Company? GOOD LUCK!!! 't?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t' COSTCO ON A ROLL Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) is certainly on a roll heading into the all-important holiday season. The company said that in the fourth (August) quarter, earnings per share grew 20% to $0.79, beating consensus forecasts by $0.03. Overall net earnings increased 22% to $183.2 million. Revenue grew 14% to $8.7 billion. Even more impressive, same store sales swelled 12% for the quarter. Costco operates nearly 300 wholesale warehouses, most of which are in the United States. The company is known for offering low prices on merchandise like fresh foods and hard lines to its customers. The catch: Customers must cough up a yearly membership fee for the privilege of shopping in its stores. Although its results seem rosy, the company is mindful that it must remain nimble as it has competition from all directions. First off there is Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), which competes with its Sam's Clubs warehouse stores as well as with its Wal-Mart Supercenters, which contain everything from soup and other food items to nuts and bolts and clothing to boot. BJ's Wholesale Club (NYSE: BJ) has about one-third the stores of Costco, vying for their slot in the wholesale club industry. But Costco has been churning out better same-store sales growth, as BJ's was in the single digits for the September quarter. So how does Costco plan to fend off the competition and continue to grow at this pace? According to Sally Wallick of Legg Mason Wood Walker, aside from the company's traditional business there are three catalysts to the Costco story that could provide a better picture for the future. First, Costco plans to expand upon its Executive Membership program, by offering a menu of additional services to customers. One recent example, an onsite gas station. Second, Wallick expects Costco's website http://Costco.com to add 800 more items, bringing the total of items for sale to 2,000. Costco is planning to expand upon its business-to-business offerings, such as linking its Executive Membership program with its website. Costco's web-related sales were a mere $15 million this year out of $27.4 billion in total sales for the company, but the business is expected to grow 300% to $60 million in fiscal (August) 2000. Thirdly, Wallick notes that the company is co-branding a credit card for its members with American Express (NYSE: AXP). The joint venture is still in the works, but should be a positive for the average Costco shopper, many of whom probably do not have 'American Express status.' Costco's stock has been rebounding from the overall retail retreat. However, at $83.94 it is still 11% off its 52-week high of $93.75 a share, which was made back in early April. Daniel Barry of Merrill Lynch took action after reviewing the earnings, and raised his rating to long-term 'buy' from long-term 'accumulate.' Jeffrey Edelman of PaineWebber believes the 12-month target is $91 a share, using a price-to-earnings in-line with the S&P 500. Bottom Line: A company the size of Costco should attract a price-to-sales ratio of one. If so, the stock would be worth $105 a share, or over 30% above its present price. 't?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t' We hope you enjoyed this week's edition and we look forward to visiting you again shortly. 't?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t,$:0``0:$,t?t0:$,t?t' ----- Original Message ----- From: Seamus Cooney <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Thursday, October 14, 1999 3:05 AM Subject: Re: Virus Alert from Wall Street Journal > I subscribe to the Wall Street Journal. No such alert was sent out by them > to their subscribers. > > ---------- > >From: "N. Scott Reynolds" <[log in to unmask]> > >To: [log in to unmask] > >Subject: Re: Virus Alert from Wall Street Journal > >Date: Wed, Oct 13, 1999, 5:33 PM > > > > > I would consider it a hoax also if it didn't come from the Wall Street > > Journal. Don't say you weren't warned. Whateve