1999: an "outperform" year for Internet-related stocks.

A majority of those polled in recent study said that if they were stranded on a desert island, they would prefer a computer with an Internet connection rather than a telephone or a television. M. Meeker, Internet analyst at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, pointed to that finding in forecasting a strong year for Net stocks in 1999. In her most recent report, dubbed "Internet/PC Software: It Cannot Get Better than This, But it Can Still be Pretty Good," she rated 1999 as an "outperform" year. Indeed, Internet-related stocks continue to burst at the seams in the new year, driven by frenzied enthusiasm over holiday e-commerce sales and high expectations as earnings season kicks off next week. Still, not everyone agrees with Meeker, the analyst voted #1 by the 1998 Institutional Investor survey.