Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (46362)	12/29/1999 4:03:00 AM
From: Alex	Respond to of 116984

DENNIS MOORE, NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT CORRESPONDENT: There are three tanker trucks of water lined up outside the Federal Reserve office buildings in Washington. Just down the street, a portable electric generator and a tank of diesel fuel. And there's another big back-up power plant planted in the Treasury's front yard. The financial Feds want you to know they are ready for Y2K problems wherever they might show up this weekend. EDWARD KELLY, FEDERAL RESERVE GOVERNOR: We don't anticipate any problems, but, on the other hand, as you know very well, this thing is so extensive and so interconnected and so many different facets of the economy in our society are involved that it would be really rather surprising if we don't get some surprises somewhere along the way. MOORE: Starting Friday, Fed officials will be standing watch 24 hours a day in what used to be their cafeteria, on top of that building there. It's now a kind of war room that, for security reasons, we can't show you. But it's the same concept as this White House Y2K rollover monitoring center, aimed at staying in touch with financial companies and regulators around this country and around the world. In the industrial world, the US banking system comes late to the rollover party. It starts in New Zealand, 18 hours before Washington; followed by Tokyo, 14 hours; Moscow at eight; and London, five hours ahead of Washington. KELLY: There is a system that has been set up whereby central banks are going to be in touch with each other and keep each other informed of what's going on around the world. So we will literally be in touch with New Zealand, yes. MOORE: The Feds have inspected every bank, S&L, and credit union in the country twice, some three times. They've tested the ATM networks and printed up more new hard cash than is actually circulating in the country. But so far, no lines of people topping off their wallets at ATMs. The big test for the financial markets doesn't come until Monday January 3, and the president's Y2K coordinator hasn't seen any trouble there either. JOHN KOSKINEN, CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT'S Y2K COUNCIL: There has been no indication of any Y2K effect in either trading volume or pricing. MOORE: If things slow down a bit in the markets in the next few days, well, that happens every year end, and nothing would please the Y2K planners more than if it all turns out to be the anticlimax of the century. Dennis Moore, NIGHTY BUSINESS REPORT, Washington. Nightly Business Report transcripts are available on-line post-broadcast. The program is transcribed by FDCH. Updates may be posted at a later date. The views of our guests and commentators are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc. Nightly Business Report, or WPBT. Information presented on Nightly Business Report is not and should not be considered as investment advice. (c)1999 Community Television Foundation of South Florida, Inc.

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (46362)	12/29/1999 5:54:00 AM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116984

Big banks limit currency trading to test computer Y2K adaptability Bloomberg News Tuesday, December 28, 1999 Canada's biggest banks have been limiting currency trading since mid-December to enable them to test their computers' adaptability to the change of the century. Banks will have spent $1-billion to fix any year 2000 software problems that could cause computer systems, such as settlement systems, to fail because programs written decades ago recognize only the final two digits of a year. The glitch makes it impossible to distinguish 2000 from 1900 unless the computers are reprogrammed. As a precaution, currency traders at Canada's five largest banks will honour client requests, while avoiding interbank trades, which account for 72 per cent of all transaction flows last year, according to the Bank of Canada. Analysts also note that many clients have already completed or will complete their currency trading before year-end. The banks have agreed to defer the exchange of payments of all forward contracts that mature at the end of December and the beginning of January until after Jan. 10. Forwards trading is the buying and selling of currencies at a fixed price in the future and is used by companies and institutional investors to hedge against price and currency fluctuations. Spot trading, expected to be less busy than usual, will operate normally during the period, according to Rob Wittmann, managing director of foreign exchange at RBC Dominion Securities Inc. The usual settlement period for spot contracts is one business day after the transaction. "Most moves in currencies, including the U.S. and Canada, will be triggered by client flow, not by interbank traders buying and selling the currency," said Stephen Wateridge, a managing director of foreign exchange at CIBC World Markets in Toronto. "People don't want to overtax the payment systems just in case there are Y2K bugs." He said CIBC World Markets asked its customers with contracts expiring in the last week of December and first week of January to postpone settlements until Jan. 10. The European central bank has declared Dec. 31 a "non-business day." "We would like to limit the amount of risk that we have on our books over that period," said Steve Butler, senior currency trader at Bank of Nova Scotia. "But we're certainly going to continue to trade and continue to price our customers." The dollar typically declines in December when overseas companies with Canadian units convert profits into their domestic currencies. To allay concerns about a possible cash crunch, the Bank of Canada has printed and stockpiled about $23-billion in cash, roughly four times the normal inventory it carries. Industry associations, including the Toronto-based Financial Markets Association of Canada and Paris-based Association Cambiste Internationale, support the banks' blackout periods and recommended they adopt guidelines set by the New York Foreign Exchange Committee. globetechnology.com

To: IngotWeTrust who wrote (46362)	12/29/1999 8:05:00 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116984

From: jinx44 Date: 29 Aug 1999 Time: 18:12:46 Comments "Naturally I know exactly what is going to happen, but I won't tell." (George Soros, January 14, 1998 12:43 pm, Die Zeit, Hamburg, Germany, Reuters) I had not intended on adding another chapter to this essay, but Mr. Soros's words have left me restless and fueled a fire in my belly. I have come to respect George Soros for his personal philosophies, his convictions, and his uncanny ability to be on the right side of the financial fence. Simply put, Soros is smart, a master at his craft. Soros's reappearance on the world stage should not be taken lightly... webm926e.ntx.net