As a result, the roadkill on the information super highway of e-commerce is piling up. Those that are ready to take the gamble, are advised to be very selective when picking their stocks. The world's most popular portal is seen as a bellwether of the market, just as Intel's shares are a good indicator for the fortunes of the computer industry. When Intel recently said that its earnings would not be up to expectations, the whole sector took a dive, not just the share price of the chip maker. So far, Yahoo has regularly managed to beat market expectations, showing strong growth of both users and revenues.
Investors are wary.
Shake-out Yahoo, for its part, can point to one crucial advantage it has on most competitors, a large audience. About 400 internet firms are currently listed on US stock markets. For them, the coming three months will turn out to be crucial. If they don't get it right this time, there is little chance that investors will extend them any more money. In 1999, several web ventures angered customers by failing to deliver before Christmas Day.