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GIS WORLD STOCK WATCH
This column marks a first and a last. It will be the last "Stock Watch" column to appear in GIS WORLD magazine and the first to appear on the GIS Place, GIS World Inc.’s World Wide Web site. This column can now be accessed in cyberspace at http://www.gisworld.com/publications/editorial (link to be established soon).. Please add this address as a bookmark to your Web browser. Being on line, dated material can be covered in a more timely fashion. It also sets a trend for the publisher to offer exclusive on-line material.
Another change occurring is the merging of GIS World Index with that of its related publication, Business Geographics. The merger entails the addition of three data stocks, American Business Information, Omaha, Neb.; CACI Marketing Systems, Arlington, Va; and Equifax, Atlanta, Ga. - raising the total number of index stocks to 12. One stock, Interra, will be dropped due to the firm’s liquidation and replaced by Symmetricom, a firm mentioned in last months "Stock Watch" column and added at the beginning of 1996. This company uses Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to calibrate telecommunications equipment. I’m always on the lookout for additional stocks, so any recommendations are welcome. All GIS WORLD and Business Geographics monthly indexes for 1994 and 1995 will be archived on line. The new combined index, the GIS Stock Index, will begin at the same point in time as the previous indexes and will also be available on-line..
Besides the more timely nature of the on-line column, there are other advantages to the Internet move. Much more information will be available for each index stock, with some data changing daily. Schott Consulting Services has prepared a stock data table linked to the GIS Place, allowing users to readily access the following information: the current stock price, as well as daily price high, low and volume; a 52-week stock price graph, which also depicts price ranges for the previous four years; a company’s documents residing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (via EDGAR); and a link to Schott Consulting Services’ home page on the Internet. In addition, all previous "Stock Watch" articles will be readily accessible on-line.
Company News
The Internet is attracting this column as well as certain GIS stock index firms. American Business Information announced Find America, a free Internet service that allows access to more than 11 million businesses from American Directory Assistance and 80 million households from American Yellow Pages. Its Web address is http://www.lookupusa.com. Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, Ala., announced a line of Web Servers available in April 1996, featuring Windows NT, the Microsoft Internet Information Server, Hypertext Mark-up Language authoring tools, Pentium Processors and more.
Apart from the Web, Equifax acquired Market Knowledge Inc., Chicago, Il., a marketing services company offering strategic consulting to marketing information systems. Equifax also expanded its interest in Dicom SA, Santiago, Chile, thereby increasing its presence in information services in South America. Landmark Graphic Corp., Houston, Tx., will acquire Western Atlas Software division’s general applications software operations for about $15 million. Trimble Navigation Ltd., Sunnyvale, Calif., announced an agreement with Aquila Minding Systems Ltd. to sell and distribute certain products and jointly develop new products for mining, construction and quarrying industries. Trimble also announced a stock buyback program of up to 600,000 shares or about 3 percent of its outstanding stock.
The GIS Stock Index Debuts
The primary reason for combining the two prior indices is that they have performed similarly historically, and are expected to perform similarly to the GIS Stock Index in the future.
The February performance of the index gained 6 percent compared to a 1 percent increase in the Standard & Poors 500. The largest gainers were Trimble, up 27 percent, and Primark Corp., Waltham, Mass., up 18 percent; and Autodesk Inc., San Rafael, Calif., up to 17 percent. The largest declines were 6 percent by both Eagle Point Software Corp., Dubuque, Iowa, and MapInfo Corp., Troy, N.Y.
GIS WORLD Inc., April, 1996; pp 86.
(This article was reproduced with permission from GIS WORLD Inc.)