Jefferies Hosts 5th Annual Internet & Media Conference
After five years of uninterrupted out-performance, Internet stocks have had a very challenging 2008, with the weakening global economy likely to further dampen their short-term prospects. Fundamentally, however, we believe that the secular shift of ad dollars, commerce and services online, which started over 10 years ago, remains on course, buoyed by these models' superior value proposition and continuous improvement to the telecom infrastructure. At the same time, non-Internet media firms, already weakened by the onslaught of online media models, are bracing for a tough 2009, made more difficult by the current economic crisis, especially for those with significant advertising exposure.
Our 5th Annual Internet & Media Conference featured panel discussions and presentations from over 75 public and private company managements. In addition, it attracted leading institutional and private equity investors, offering attendees the opportunity to take the pulse of opinion leaders and top decision makers, assess where we are in the growth cycle of the Internet, and how traditional media is likely to cope with these challenges going forward.
