Had you invested in Webvan upon reading my cnnfn.com review, your initial investment would have risen approximately 15-20 percent, depending on the price that you picked up the stock. I am not saying that I have savvy investing skills, but I am merely implying that the stock is a great pick. Yahoo! Finance reported that Webvan Shares jumped 2 3/16 to 15 15/16 on Friday. "Sales drove ahead a whopping 136 percent to $9.1 million from last year's $3.8 million in the comparable quarter." Shares of Webvan jumped 16 percent Friday after the online grocery service reported strong sales and fourth-quarter results that matched analysts' consensus estimate.

But, if you tried to research the online grocery store on dowjones.com , which for now operates in San Francisco only, then you would be left out in the cold. A look at webvan's stock on dowjones.com does not reveal much. In fact, the news reported is weak and outdated, not really having a strong incentive for those investors to access information. There are three categories for individual equity news.
DOW JONES BUSINESS NEWS
PRESS RELEASE WIRES
and lastly
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL INTERACTIVE EDITION

If you looked at these news headlines, you would figure that Press Release Wires would indicate many sources of news and very timely information. But the lack of many sources for news and untimely news updates presents a large problem. Sure there can be a reason for this. Since the stock is merely a small cap one, with now much news coverage. But actually, there is great coverage on Yahoo! Finance.

In fact, news from Yahoo! Finance reports 15 news stories on January 28th ALONE:

[video] ON24/TalkOnStocks: Webvan Plans Faster Expansion [11.7 min] - ON24 - 8:55 pm
[external] Net Stocks: Sector pressured, but Webvan bucks trend - at CBS MarketWatch - 7:17 pm
[$$ - free trial] Company Report: Oak Falls, Corning Cracks and ZDNet Gets Zapped - at TheStreet.com - 5:45 pm
Closing Bell - Individual Investor - 5:39 pm
[external] Webvan delivers 136 percent sales jump - at CBS MarketWatch - 4:52 pm
[external] All Aboard! Webvan bucks the market - at CBS MarketWatch - 4:26 pm
[$$ - free trial] Midday Movers: Financials, Eastman Chemical Getting Battered at Midday - at TheStreet.com - 1:46 pm
Stocks to Watch: JP Morgan, Citigroup, Veritas and More - worldlyinvestor.com - 12:22 pm
RESEARCH ALERT - Webvan 2000 loss view widened - Reuters Securities - 11:56 am
[external] Market Snapshot: Market set to slide - at CBS MarketWatch - 11:30 am
Midday Movers - Individual Investor - 11:28 am
Robertson Stephens Reiterates Buy Rating on WBVN - Business Wire - 10:46 am
[external] Webvan Reports Q4 Earnings In Line With Estimates - at The Motley Fool - 9:32 am
[external] MyPortal.Com - at UpsideToday - 3:00 am
PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business - Jan 28 - Reuters Securities - 1:18 am

However, dowjones.com only has latest news stories that are covered on November 30!
With the exception of the 3rd news category, in which the user can access information on individual stock quotes on the wall street interactive edition, there is an article on January, 29. But prior articles do not mention the previous day's earnings report or stock jump.

I am sure that this lack of news coverage on Webvan is not very indicative of the whole dowjones.com site. But their lack of sources for information do not make it a strong site for the individual investor. You would be missing out on a great deal of information if you took the site as the real information source. But you must take the site for what it is.

In fact, the main purpose of this site is not to provide up to date news information. There is much more. But these are limited to light information for weekend pleasure reading. The site is light, to say the least. It even has a section on where to buy those luxury items online after you make your killing on the markets!

For their market untimeliness and lack of information depth, I do not recommend this site. Go register, login and see what is all about. But I am not promising anything too earth-shatteringly creative or astounding.

As for next stock picks, I cannot guarantee a huge jump in price. But take a look at INPR, Inprise Corporation. Their lates earnings reports were not very strong, although it is still a strong company.
If you want to play a hedge against Microsoft, then buy INPR. It is a linux player, with good fundamentals. If you don't recognize the company, maybe you'll remember Borland, which is the same company.
Take a look, maybe you'll like what you see. Read up on it, but always be wary of your news source.





Recommended: No