Can Web IPO Market Survive Stock Dive?

By Carol Kopp These days, it seems that a bubble can burst before it even forms, in defiance of the laws of physics. So much for the great Web IPO bubble of 2011. At least, that is how many Web business watchers are talking after the markets tanked Monday. Technology stocks were hit harder than most. The Nasdaq Index dropped 6.9% compared to the Dow Jones Industrial's 5.5% loss. The biggest names fell hard: Netflix (NFLX) dropped 6%; Google (GOOG) 5.7%, and Amazon (AMZN) 4.44%.

(To read Vitaliy Katsenelson's article on why the US Debt is not AAA, click here.)

It was worse for a newbie. LinkedIn (LNKD) lost an eye-popping 17.38% on Monday. Only last Thursday, it had issued its first-ever quarterly earnings report, showing impressive growth in revenue, membership, and page views. And that makes many wonder about the next round or rounds of newbies, like Zynga and Groupon, which have filed plans for IPOs, or Facebook and Twitter, which haven't but might. All of the above spawned a lot of colorful headlines, like this one from Forbes: “For IPOs and Startups, A Passing Storm Or ‘Guns And Canned Food' Time?” And from Fortune: “That Record Week For IPOs? It Got Downgraded Too.”

(To view Todd Harrison's story on will turnaround Tuesday save the day, click here.)

One relatively upbeat view comes from Business Insider, which suggests that the IPO market of 2011 will survive, except possibly for startups that were dicey propositions in any case. Best and Worst Broadband Verizon (VZ) gets a sort of truth-in-advertising award from the Federal Communications Commission in a new study on actual versus advertised broadband Internet speeds. The agency calls it the first nationwide performance study of residential broadband services. The good news: US broadband providers in general are less dishonest than they were in 2009 about the speed of their services. And they're less dishonest than their counterparts abroad. They now deliver an average 80% to 90% of their advertised Internet speeds during peak use periods. At the top of the heap was Verizon's FiOS fiber network, which consistently performed above its advertised speeds, even during peak periods. Cox, Comcast (CMCSA), and Charter (CHTR) also met or beat their own claims. Cablevision (CVC) was at the bottom of the heap, with AT&T (T) next-worst on delivering its promised speed of service.

(To view James Kostohryz's piece on why now is not the time to buy gold, click here.)

In general, DSL services delivered 82% of advertised speeds in peak periods, while cable came in at 93% and fiber at 114%. The FCC put its speed test online in early 2010 after finding out that the vast majority of Americans have no idea what Internet speed they're actually getting, or what speed they were promised when they signed up for a broadband service.

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