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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: C.K. Houston who wrote (6488)	7/12/1999 10:02:00 AM
From: C.K. Houston	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

Equity Market 5-Day Y2K Outages By Steve Gold, Newsbytes July 12, 1999 Ongoing research from International Monitoring suggests that stock exchanges around the world could be in for a bumpy ride as the Y2K problem kicks in. The consulting firm's research suggests that failure in IT systems, together with telecommunications and utility service outages will conspire to cause effective trading outages in large markets lasting as long as five days. Nick Gogerty, a senior consultant with the London-based firm, said that the analysis took in details of Y2K preparation and infrastructure usage. The research, he said, indicates that the world's 19 largest equity markets, as measured by market capitalization, are located in countries which could face telecommunications and utilities delays of up to five days. For the research, the countries' technological profile was combined with an economic profile and a Y2K preparedness estimate based on internal and independent third party research. The IM-Y2K Rating, the firm says, assumes that Y2K "fix" rates are maintained at current levels. The ratings have also been updated to reflect changes in national and private sector "fix" efforts, as they become available. The remaining estimates of unfinished or improperly finished Y2K fixes are then applied to a damage estimate scale. The scale, known as the IM-Y2K rating, ranks countries from zero to nine, with nine being the worst case. The average IM-Y2K risk rating for the 19 countries was 4.4 IM-Y2K. International Monitoring says that this 4.4 IM-Y2K score corresponds to a Y2K damage or delay estimate of 5 days without standard telecoms and/or utilities available. The damages or costs associated with such a delay, the firm notes, are not known. According to the firm, it's important to remember that the average IM- Y2K Risk Rating presented in the report is an average figure, and has not been weighed relative to the equity value of the individual markets. This means that the outage scenarios vary significantly from country to country. International Monitoring's Web site, where segments of the report can be reviewed and purchased, is at intl-monitoring.com . currents.net Cheryl 172 Days until 2000

To: C.K. Houston who wrote (6488)	7/13/1999 4:36:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 9818

JOC: 'Experts warn of Y2K trade upheaval Each nation's problem will become a global one BY WILLIAM ROBERTS JOURNAL OF COMMERCE STAFF WASHINGTON -- Experts on the millennium computer bug warned Congress last week that international commerce and trade may face serious disruptions early next year because of computer failures in foreign countries. Painting an alarming but uncertain picture, a National Intelligence Council officer and a State Department watchdog told a special Senate oversight panel on Friday that many foreign nations are not prepared. "It is becoming increasingly clear that there will be Y2K-related problems in virtually very corner of the globe," Jacquelyn L. Williams-Bridgers, inspector general of the Department of State, told a hearing of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. "Faced with a relentless and unforgiving deadline, countries have to make difficult decisions concerning the use of scarce resources to fix a problem that has not yet occurred," she said. Many computer programs use two digits to identify the year. Those systems will recognize "00" as 1900 rather than 2000. Without upgrading, the systems could fail on Jan. 1, 2000. The international transportation sector is particularly vulnerable, she and Lawrence K. Gershwin, National Intelligence Council officer for science and technology, said. "Global linkages in telecommunications, financial systems, the manufacturing supply chain, oil supplies, trade and worldwide shipping and air transportation will virtually guarantee that Y2K problems will not be isolated to individual countries," Mr. Gershwin said. Among the difficulties the two officials outlined: Both the Panama and Suez canals face the risk of disrupted operations should traffic management systems or ship steering mechanisms fail. Panama officials say no ships will be allowed into the canal on Dec. 31. A Norwegian firm is working now on fixing the Suez Canal's traffic system. China probably will experience failures in several areas, including transportation and power generation. An estimated 90% of software used in China, even by government offices and state-owned enterprises, is pirated, making it very difficult to approach vendors for fixes. China is planning to conduct a nationwide aviation test. Senior officials have been ordered to fly on New Year's Day. Central and Eastern Europe are believed to face vulnerabilities in Soviet-designed nuclear power plants, though Western experts do not know what specific problems they may have. Many vendors of the software and equipment stopped operating after the fall of the Soviet Union. Russia Gazprom natural gas pipeline network is susceptible to potential Y2K outages. It supplies nearly 50% of the total energy consumed by Russia. While Gazprom has backup plans, it is unclear whether these measures are sufficient to deal with the scale of problems that could occur. ..... ' joc.com