Index Tracks Domain Stocks — Domain Name
RealMoney.com writes regarding domain names and StockPickr’s domain name index.
An article by RealMoney.com writer James Altucher, recently published on TheStreet.com, talks regarding the growth of domain name stocks. The article is well written and verifies what we domainers by now know:
Following the fortunes of firms that are stockpiling domain names — the “arms merchants” of the domain name business — is well worth your while, regardless of the state of the economy.
The Internet is only going to get bigger, and domain names are the keys to the kingdom if you want to do business online. And the supply is diminishing every day. I want to keep an eye on the top public firms that are stockpiling domain names and building up tangible value on their balance sheets without most of Wall Street being aware of it — and identify those that are good buys.
But it also adds some great insight and personal experience, counting some fresh information regarding (unconfirmed) multi-million dollar offers for Calls.com:
To find out more regarding domain names, I called Robert Chapman, founder of activist hedge fund Chapman Capital…So what does this have to do with domain names? Turns out that Bob has been buying them for a decade: “In March 1996, it was obvious to me that .com was beachfront real estate available for lease at $35 a year,” he told me. “A true no-brainer.”
I asked him if he had received any offers for any of the domain names he owns. “Yes,” he stated, “but they were not bought with the intent to sell for a profit. I wanted to use them. A number of telco service operators have offered me over $3 million for calls.com so they could compete against Skype. But I am holding out for a much higher price, given my view that all calls are going to be made over the Internet in the next 10 years, and calls.com is the hotels.com of that space.”
Bob owns, among other names, sherry.com, helmet.com, hedgefunds.com and takeovers.com.
StockPickr.com has an index of domain name firms. Many of these firms were covered in my recent review of 2006 domain name stock performance. The index includes:
Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN)
Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)
Marchex (NASDAQ: MCHX)
Tucows (AMEX: TCX)
InterSearch Group (AMEX: IGO)
Communicate.com (OTCBB: CMNN.ob)
