CDNX shutdown by fire and explosion...
ca.biz.yahoo.com
Tuesday August 22, 1:52 pm Eastern Time
Another glitch hits Toronto stock market
(UPDATE: Changes slug. Adds quotes and background. Adds CDNX trading problems.)
By Scott Anderson
TORONTO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - In a frustrating morning for Canadian investors, trading at two of the country's stock exchanges was halted on Tuesday, with a technical glitch delaying
Toronto's opening and a fire shutting down Vancouver.
In what is being seen as another damning indictment of the troublesome technology at the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE), trading at Canada's biggest bourse was delayed for almost an
hour after an unexplained glitch threw a wrench into the day's activities.
The exchange was 55 minutes late in opening for Tuesday's session and although full trading resumed by 10:25 a.m. (1425 GMT) red-faced TSE officials were still unable to explain
what caused the closely watched exchange to falter.
Exchange spokesman Steve Kee, said the technical problem was discovered during the pre-market start-up of the systems, when it was determined that not all securities firms were
getting confirmation of orders.
Kee said that although the problem was identified, there was not sufficient time to open at the regular hour.
``One of the important things to remember is that decisions on our delays and the decision on when we're going to open is a co-operation between the participating organisations and the
TSE,'' Kee said.
``What we're trying to do is provide a fair and orderly market and it would not be fair and orderly if we just randomly decided when we would open.''
Kee said exchange officials might not know until later in day what specifically led to the shutdown.
The Canadian Venture Exchange also saw trading halted on Tuesday following a power outage caused by a fire and small explosion in the Vancouver building where its trading system is
housed.
The fire was quickly put out, but CDNX officials called off trading for the day after efforts to restore regular electrical service failed.
In the case of Toronto, the incident was yet another embarrassment for the exchange.
In early June, shares of its most heavily weighted issue, Nortel Networks Corp. (Toronto:NT.TO - news) (NYSE:NT - news) were unavailable for trading for four hours, enraging
investors and spurring demands for changes at the technically challenged market.
At that time, the exchange traced the glitch to an isolated problem in its computer-assisted trading system that hit only Nortel stock.
In early March, the TSE suffered a major breakdown that halted trading for more than two and a half hours and there have been several other less serious incidents as well.
The latest delay once again frustrated investors who have become resigned to the fact of technical problems at the Bay Street exchange.
``I'm less frustrated and more resigned (to the problems),'' said Gerald Vincent, vice-president and economist at Davis-Rea Ltd. Investment Counsel in Toronto. ``It's sort of like living in
a Third World country, recognising the water and the telephone and the lights don't always turn on, and accepting it.''
Vincent said he could not understand how the TSE, which bills itself as a world-class exchange, could tolerate so many technical problems.
``It's exceptional to think the exchange would allow itself to have its credibility undermined just as a basic exchange venue. But I basically resign myself to incompetence.''
($1 equals $1.48 Canadian) |
