What Made the Internet Bubble Burst? A Butterfly Flapping its Wings, or How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Using a broad media database, the informational environment surrounding the technology market highs is analyzed for a trigger event that could have caused the quot;Internet bubblequot; to burst. Two major informational events are identified as triggers for the sudden change in market sentiment: a joint statement by Bill Clinton and Tony Blair on free access to human genome research results and the publication of a study by Barron's magazine about Internet companies' burn rates. Evidence of the considerable short-term market impact on Internet stocks is given. Moreover, diffusion data of the informational events show a long-term impact of the Barron's study on media, financial analyst, and consequently on investor focus of attention