It reached a priceвЂ“earnings ratio of 200, dwarfing the peak priceвЂ“earnings ratio of 80 for the Japanese Nikkei 225 during the Japanese asset price bubble of 1991. Between 19, the Nasdaq Composite stock market index rose 400%. A combination of rapidly increasing stock prices in the quaternary sector of the economy and confidence that the companies would turn future profits created an environment in which many investors were willing to overlook traditional metrics, such as the priceвЂ“earnings ratio, and base confidence on technological advancements, leading to a stock market bubble. Investment banks, which profited significantly from initial public offerings (IPO), fueled speculation and encouraged investment in technology. The bubble ДЄs a result of these factors, many investors were eager to invest, at any valuation, in any dot-com company, especially if it had one of the Internet-related prefixes or a '. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 was expected to result in many new technologies from which many people wanted to profit. Alan Greenspan, then- Chair of the Federal Reserve, allegedly fueled investments in the stock market by putting a positive spin on stock valuations. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which lowered the top marginal capital gains tax in the United States, also made people more willing to make more speculative investments. This marked the shift to the Information Age, an economy based on information technology, and many new companies were founded.ДЄt the same time, a decline in interest rates increased the availability of capital. Between 19, the percentage of households in the United States owning computers increased from 15% to 35% as computer ownership progressed from a luxury to a necessity. Internet use increased as a result of the reduction of the ' digital divide' and advances in connectivity, uses of the Internet, and computer education. The 1993 release of Mosaic and subsequent web browsers during the following years gave computer users access to the World Wide Web, popularizing use of the Internet.

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