Winners of the New World? (Part I)

So there is this CNBC commentator named Jim Cramer. Everyone knows him. He is richer than I am and probably smarter than me and perhaps even better looking. Once upon a time he wrote a piece at the height of the Internet Bubble called "Winners of the New World. (2/29/00) " It was a list of his top ten stocks - must own stocks for the new millenium. Here they are:

724 Solutions - SVNX
Ariba - ARBA
Digital Island - ISLD
Exodus - EXDS
InfoSpace.com INSP
Inktomi - INKT
Mercury Interactive - MERQ
Sonera - SNRA
VeriSign - VRSN
Veritas Software - VRTS

There were some interesting quotes in the article about these must own stocks:

"We are buying some of every one of these this morning as I give this speech. We buy them every day, particularly if they are down, which, no surprise given what they do, is very rare. And we will keep doing so until this period is over -- and it is very far from ending."

"We don't use price-to-earnings multiples anymore at Cramer Berkowitz. If we talk about price-to-book, we have already gone astray. If we use any of what Graham and Dodd teach us, we wouldn't have a dime under management. "

Well guess what Jim Cramer? Tweedy Browne didn't forget about what Graham and Dodd taught them and they have quite a few pennies under management.

So I am going to waste some time and track every one of these stocks that were "must own" stocks from 2/29/00.

724 Solutions - SVNX

This one now was bought out by a Venture Capital firm for $3.34 per share after peaking at $200. The chart on yahoo only goes back to 2001 so it may have been even higher.

Ariba - ARBA

Ariba is still around and now trades at around $9.25 after peaking at $1012.50 a share. No, this is not a misprint as the stock had a 1 for 6 reverse split in 2004. And this guy has his own show?

Digital Island - ISLD

Alas, I can find no record on this one on either Yahoo or Google. It has been lost to history.

Exodus - EXDS

I am having trouble finding this one too - there is a mention of an Exodus Communications that in September 2001 filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.