Top 5 Internet Stocks To Watch For 2014

After many fruitful years, I��e fallen out of love with Amazon.com and sold my position. Jeff Bezos has built a powerful Internet operation, but I�� convinced he�� borderline psychotic.

I do understand running a public company as if it were private, concentrating on long cycle initiatives that may remain in the investment phase for years. Why report huge profits and pay a high corporate tax rate? Let the government underwrite your startups of new ventures. Right?

Amazon�� coterie of analysts and money managers wisely held this position for years, but it�� begun to wear thin. I applaud Amazon�� Kindle trashing Barnes & Noble's Noble's electronic reader. BKS came years late to the game. But, does the smartphone sector need a new player? Amazon ain�� got the wherewithal to trash Samsung and Apple Apple.

I accept we��e at the end of the beginning of the market�� correction of Internet properties and other rangy EBITDA stocks. Unlike 2000, this action is unlikely to precipitate a major market correction or even a mini-recession as did the paid clicks insanity of 1999-2000.

Best Warren Buffett Companies To Buy For 2015: eBay Inc.(EBAY)

eBay Inc. provides online platforms, services, and tools to help individuals and merchants in online and mobile commerce and payments in the United States and internationally. Its Marketplaces segment operates ecommerce platform eBay.com; vertical shopping sites, such as StubHub, Fashion, Motors, and Half.com; and classifieds Websites, including Den Bl�Avis, BilBasen, Gumtree, Kijiji, LoQUo, Marktplaats.nl, mobile.de, Alamaula, Rent.com, eBay Anuncios, eBay Kleinanzeigen, and eBay Annunci, as well as provides advertising services. The company?s Payments segment offers payment and settlement services for consumers and merchants on and off eBay Websites and other merchant Websites. This segment operates PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to send and receive payments online and through mobile devices; Bill Me Later that enables the United States merchants to offer, the United States consumers to obtain, credit at the point of sale for ecommerce and mobile tra nsactions; Zong, which allows users with mobile phones to purchase digital goods and have the transactions charged to their phone bill; and BillSAFE that enables customers pay for purchases upon receipt of an invoice. Its GSI segment offers an ecommerce services suite for enterprise clients that operate in general merchandise categories, including apparel, sporting goods, toys and baby, health and beauty, and home; and marketing services comprising full-service digital agency, enterprise email marketing, mobile advertising, affiliate marketing, advertisement retargeting, and in-depth analytics services. The company also offers X.commerce platform that provides software developers access to the company?s applications programming interfaces to develop functionality for various merchants; and Magento Connect, which allows developers to market and sell add-on functionality and solutions to merchants that use a Magento storefront. eBay Inc. was founded in 1995 and is headquarter ed in San Jose, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Hointer/APA woman demonstrates shopping technology at a store called Hointer in Seattle. NEW YORK -- When it comes to shopping, more Americans are skipping the stores and pulling out their smartphones and tablets. Still, there's more on the horizon for shopping than just point-and-clicking. No one thinks physical stores are going away permanently. But because of the frenetic pace of advances in technology and online shopping, the stores that remain will likely offer amenities and services that are more about experiences and less about selling a product. Think: Apple's (AAPL) stores. Among the things industry watchers are envisioning are holograms in dressing rooms that will allow shoppers to try on clothes without getting undressed. Their homes will be equipped with smart technology that will order light bulbs before they go dark. And they'll be able to print out a full version of coffee cups and other products using 3-D technology in stores. "Physical shopping will become a lot more fun because it's going to have to be," retail futurist Doug Stephens says. More Services Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru says stores of the future will be more about services, like day care, veterinary services and beauty services. Services that connect online and offline shopping could increase as well, with more drive-thru pickup and order-online, pick-up-in-store services. Checkout also will be self-service or with cashiers using computer tablets. Some stores are taking self-service further: A store in Seattle called Hointer displays clothing not in piles or on racks but as one piece hanging at a time, like a gallery. Shoppers just touch their smartphones to a coded tag on the item and then select a color and size on their phone. Technology in the store keeps track of the items, and by the time a shopper is ready to try them on, they're already at the dressing room. If the shopper doesn't like an item, he tosses it down a chute, which automatically removes the i

• [By David Hanson and Matt Koppenheffer]

  Technological innovation has transformed the way consumers pay, businesses accept payments, and how�institutions�serve clients. However, we are still surely in the early�innings�of technology's impact on the banking sector. As platforms such as PayPal, a division of eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY  ) , change the way consumers think about their financial lives, are traditional banks increasingly in trouble?

Top 5 Internet Stocks To Watch For 2014: Yahoo! Inc.(YHOO)

Yahoo! Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital media company that delivers personalized digital content and experiences through various devices worldwide. It offers online properties and services to users; and a range of marketing services to businesses. The company?s communications and communities offerings include Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, Flickr, and Connected TV, which provide a range of communication and social services to users and small businesses enabling users to organize into groups and share knowledge, common interests, and photos. Its search products comprise Yahoo! Search and Yahoo! Local, available free to users to navigate the Internet and discover content. The company?s marketplaces offerings and services include Yahoo! Shopping, Yahoo! Travel, Yahoo! Real Estate, Yahoo! Autos, and Yahoo! Small Business, which allow users to research specific topics, products, services, or areas of interest by review ing and exchanging information, obtaining contact details, or considering offers from providers of goods, services, or parties with similar interests. Its media offerings comprise Yahoo! Homepage, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Sports, Yahoo! Finance, My Yahoo!, Yahoo! Toolbar, Yahoo! Entertainment & Lifestyles, Yahoo! Contributor Network, and Yahoo! Pulse, which are designed to engage users with online content and services on the Web. The company also offers marketing services, such as display and search advertising, listing-based services, and commerce-based transactions to advertisers. In addition, it provides software and platform offerings for third-party developers, advertisers, and publishers, such as Yahoo! Developer Network, Yahoo! Open Strategy, Yahoo! Application Platform, Yahoo! Updates, Yahoo! Query Language, and Yahoo! Search BOSS. The company has strategic alliances with Nokia and ABC News, Inc. Yahoo! Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Californi a.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Laura Brodbeck]

  Stocks moving in the pre-market included:

  Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) gained 1.29 percent in premarket trade after rising 1.64 percent on Monday First Solar Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLR) rose 0.41 percent in premarket trade after gaining 21.46 percent over the past week International Business Machines Inc. (NYSE: IBM) gained 0.39 percent in premarket trade after dropping 7.55 percent over the past five days.

  Earnings

Top 5 Internet Stocks To Watch For 2014: Symantec Corporation(SYMC)

Symantec Corporation provides security, storage, and systems management solutions internationally. The company?s Consumer segment delivers Internet security, PC tune-up, and online backup solutions and services to individual users and home offices. Its Security and Compliance segment provides solutions for endpoint security and management, compliance, messaging management, data loss prevention, encryption, and authentication services to large, medium, and small-sized businesses, as well as offers solutions through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) security offerings. This segment?s products enable customers to secure, provision, and remotely manage their laptops, PCs, mobile devices, and servers. The company?s Storage and Server Management segment provides storage and server management, backup, archiving, and data protection solutions across heterogeneous storage and server platforms, as well as solutions delivered through its SaaS offerings to large, medium, and small-s ized businesses. Symantec?s Services segment offers implementation services and solutions, including consulting, business critical services, education, and managed security services. The company also provides various enterprise support offerings, such as annual maintenance support contracts, including content, upgrades, and technical support. It sells its products through its eCommerce platform, as well as through distributors, direct marketers, Internet-based resellers, system builders, ISPs, and retail locations worldwide. Symantec markets and sells its products through distributors, retailers, direct marketers, Internet-based resellers, original equipment manufacturers, system builders, and Internet service providers; and its e-commerce channels, as well as direct sales force, value-added and large account resellers, and system integrators. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Mountain View, California.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Anora Mahmudova]

  Symantec Corp. (SYMC) slid 13% after the security-software maker fired Chief Executive Steve Bennett late Thursday and replaced him with board member Michael Brown.

• [By Paul Ausick]

  Big Earnings Movers: AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) is down 1.9% at $34.62 on earnings that were good but not great. Symantec Inc. (NASDAQ: SYMC) is down 12.8% at $21.48 on lagging revenues and a weak outlook. Fusion-io Inc. (NYSE: FIO) is down 24.4% at $9.81 on soft results. Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE: GG) is up 4% at $26.62 after reporting earnings this morning. Xerox Corp. (NYSE: XRX) is down 10.4% at $9.61 on a weak outlook tied to a failing turnaround plan.

• [By WWW.DAILYFINANCE.COM]

  Judith Collins/Alamy WASHINGTON - Home improvement retailer Home Depot (HD) has been in contact with the U.S. Secret Service about an alleged major breach of customer and credit card data that came to light this week, a law enforcement source told Reuters on Thursday. Any investigation by the Secret Service appears to be at a very early stage, the source said. The Secret Service, which declined comment, usually is the lead agency in federal criminal investigations into complex breaches of credit card and other consumer data. Another law enforcement source said the FBI, which also sometimes participates in such investigations, doesn't appear to be involved. It is unclear whether the U.S. Department of Justice is playing any role. Customer data could have been stolen from nearly all of Home Depot's 2,200 stores in the United States, according to information released Wednesday by security blog Krebs on Security. Home Depot hasn't confirmed that a breach occurred and it remains unclear whether or how many customers were impacted. If confirmed, the Home Depot incident could be among the most widespread in the string of security breaches at U.S. retailers in the recent past. Spokeswoman Paula Drake said Wednesday that the retailer is working with IT security firms, including Symantec (SYMC) and FishNet Security, to investigate whether there has been a data breach. A Symantec spokeswoman confirmed that Symantec was assisting with the investigation but didn't elaborate. Home Depot sought to comfort its consumers, promising free identity-protection services, including credit monitoring, to any potentially impacted customers and reassuring that the retailer or the banks that issued the cards will be responsible for any fraudulent charges. Home Depot shares were up 1.6 percent at $90.39 Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange. Concerns about a potential Home Depot data theft follow a major breach at retailer Target (TGT), where hackers late last yea

• [By Michael Flannelly]

  Nomura Securities analysts initiated coverage on Symantec Corporation (SYMC) early on Wednesday, giving the stock a “Neutral” rating because its upside is already priced into its current valuation.

  The analysts see shares of SYMC reaching $29, which suggests a 14.6% upside to the stock’s Tuesday closing price of $25.30.

  Nomura Securities analyst Frederick Grieb commented, “In the early innings of a classic turnaround story, but upside largely priced In. We initiate coverage of Symantec (SYMC) with a Neutral rating and a 12-month target price of $29. Symantec is a leading vender in the security and storage markets, but has struggled to grow market share post its 2005 acquisition of VERITAS. The company has faced competitive pressures in its core markets, with ‘freemium’ antivirus software pressuring the consumer business, while the storage business has been challenged by enterprise migration to Windows and Linux from Solaris and UNIX. Despite these headwinds, we are launching coverage of Symantec with a Neutral rating, as we believe management will be able to improve the business by increasing margins (perhaps to +33%) and longer-term organic growth through a combination of simplifying management structures and a better strategy to incentivize the sales force. However, given the stock�� 33% increase YTD, due in part to multiple expansion (P/E up 18% YTD), we believe much of the upside from this turnaround is already baked in. FY14E EPS starts at $1.2; FY15E EPS starts at $2.18.”

  Symantec Corp shares were inactive during pre-market trading on Wednesday. The stock is up 34.43% year-to-date.

Top 5 Internet Stocks To Watch For 2014: IAC/InterActiveCorp (IACI)

IAC/InterActiveCorp engages in the Internet business in the United States and internationally. The company�s Search segment develops, markets, and distributes various downloadable toolbars; provides search, reference, and content services through its destination search and other Websites, including Ask.com and Dictionary.com; and aggregates and integrates local advertising and content for distribution to publishers on Web and mobile platforms, as well as markets and distributes mobile applications through which it provides search and additional services. Its Match segment offers subscription-based and advertiser-supported online personals services through its Websites comprising Match.com, Chemistry.com, OurTime.com, BlackPeopleMeet.com, and OkCupid.com, as well as through mobile applications and Meetic-branded Websites. The company�s ServiceMagic segment offers Market Match service that matches consumers with service professionals; Exact Match service, which enables con sumers to review service professional profiles and select the service professional that meets their specific needs; and 1800Contractor.com, an online directory of service professionals. This segment also offers Website design and hosting services. Its Media and Other segment operates CollegeHumor.com, an online entertainment Website that targets young males; Vimeo, a Website on which users can upload, share, and view video; and Pronto.com, a comparison search engine. This segment also engages in the creation of video content for various distribution platforms; and operates as an Internet retailer of footwear and related apparel and accessories, as well as focuses on multimedia business. The company was formerly known as InterActiveCorp and changed its name to IAC/InterActiveCorp in July 2004. IAC/InterActiveCorp was founded in 1986 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By WALLSTCHEATSHEET]

  IAC isn�� the most loved company on the street, which is evidenced by that 8.80 percent short position. However, IAC continues to deliver on the top and bottom lines. As long as that remains to be the case, IAC is an OUTPERFORM.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  AP/Jim Mone Is Bitcoin a slam-dunk as the currency of the future? The Sacramento Kings seem to think so. The NBA team recently became the first pro sports franchise to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. Basketball fans will be able not only to purchase tickets and merchandise online with the digital cryptocurrency, but also to use it to buy souvenirs at the arena come game time. The team is the latest in a growing number of commercial entities finding a slot in their virtual cash registers for Bitcoin. Little by little, momentum is building for a widespread acceptance of the upstart currency. Overstocking The Kings' drive towards the Bitcoin basket comes a week after the big online retailer Overstock.com (OSTK) announced it would start accepting payments in the currency. The move was an instant hit -- the first day the company had the nifty Bitcoin button as an option in its shopping cart, its customers used it to make more than 800 transactions for total sales of around $130,000. Overstock.com was by no means the first online marketplace to accept the currency. Numerous web retailers have been doing so for some time. It's a natural fit, %VIRTUAL-article-sponsoredlinks in a way, since Bitcoin exists solely in the digital realm. Customers booking flights on discount travel operator CheapAir.com, for example, can use Bitcoin to buy their tickets, as can love seekers on dating site OkCupid, owned by IAC/InteractiveCorp (IACI). These digital players are going to have plenty of company. Earlier this month, online games purveyor Zynga (ZNGA) started to dip its toes in the water, announcing that it was testing Bitcoin payments for some of its titles in conjunction with specialist transaction facilitator BitPay. But if Overstock.com didn't get there first, it's still the largest and most prominent e-retailer to take the Bitcoin plunge thus far. This is a big win for the currency and its advocates, and Overstock.com will surely be followed by more well-known comp

• [By Lawrence Meyers]

  Rather than pick the obvious candidates, I also like to look for great stocks to buy that might not be on most investors��radar. Here are three such stocks to buy:

  InterActiveCorp (IACI)

  InterActiveCorp (IACI) is Barry Diller�� conglomerate of internet companies, not terribly different from John Malone�� Liberty Interactive (LINTA). The strategy for IACI stock has been to wait for a leader in a given sector to emerge and then buy it up, or at least a portion of it. These businesses either have a history of generating lots of cash flow, or have the potential to do so.

• [By Igor Novgorodtsev]

  InterActiveCorp (IACI) bought Ask.com for $1.85 billion in 2005. The new Perion will be worth only about 40% of that. After the merger, Perion will leapfrog its much larger rivals: Babylon and AVG (AVG). Finally, Perion should be able to increase its operating margins as it can spread its SG&A costs over a much larger base (Conduit EBITDA margin is 32% vs. Perion's 23%). Perion will keep its senior management team intact: Josef Mandelbaum will remain its CEO and Yacov Kaufman its CFO. Perion has successfully orchestrated a roll-up acquisitions of privately-held Sweetpacks and Smilebox, so I have high confidence that they know how to integrate a new business.