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Technology Stocks : Y2K (Year 2000) Personal Contingency Planning -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Caroline who wrote (48)	4/14/1998 11:45:00 PM
From: RH	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 888

E-Trade's response to my questions left much to be desired also. Just to be on the safe side, no matter what happens or doesn't happen, I'm pulling my account long before the alarm bells start ringing. For those thinking about gold stocks, you need to decide whether the long term negatives include a healthy but jarring correction or a serious meltdown. For those who expect a correction at worst, simply park you money at some point and hedge with a bit of gold etc. In the meantime, during the uncertainty you may end up winning big on some gold stocks or precious metals funds/contracts etc. For those who believe in a much bigger meltdown, bullion and coins will likely be the best choice. You may want to look into an ongoing thread at the Kitco site. A poster using the handle, "ANOTHER" has spent months outlining his position regarding the direction of gold/oil/US$$. He is obviously from the Middle East and very likely has direct links to the inner workings of the backroom deals of the ruling families. I'm poring over a few hundred pages of text and I'm not sure I believe it, but it is most interesting to say the least. In a one sentence summary, you could say that the question isn't going to be what will gold be worth, but rather, what will I buy with my gold. I will be implementing a personal contingency plan with the following in mind: In a worst case scenerio, I will be covered as best as possible. In a best case scenerio (No Y2K problem at all, big hoax, etc, etc.) I will have made decisions that will have had no negative impact and I may be at a break even position. There will be two kinds of losers with regard to the Y2K issue. In a worst case scenerio there will be those who by ignorance, disbelief or lack of resources will be totally unprepared. In a best case scenerio, there may be those who have leveraged themselves in every possible direction, believing that they will make a killing on the impending meltdown--failing that, their greed will fuel their own meltdown. My lengthy 2 cents. Thanks for the thread, CK. RH

To: Caroline who wrote (48)	4/15/1998 12:04:00 AM
From: Bill Ounce	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 888

re: MS Visual Basic in enterprise finance code??? VB doesn't scale all that well for volume transactions. Really doubt that it was used for batch processing of brokerage accounts... What areas was VB used for?

To: Caroline who wrote (48)	4/15/1998 12:47:00 AM
From: Bill Wexler	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 888

<<I encountered 6 or 7 bugs in MSFT's date routines>> I have a copy of VB5 on my machine. Please describe the "6 or 7 bugs" you encountered in Microsoft's date functions. How about just a few code snippets which demonstrate these "bugs"? By the way, I called Cheryl's claims about GPS lies because they were exactly that - lies.

To: Caroline who wrote (48)	4/16/1998 8:41:00 PM
From: MoneyPenny	Respond to of 888

I read your comments about Fidelity and their preparation and was alarmed enough to e-mail the company (I have 3 brokerage accounts with Fido holding virtually all our investments) and they responded immediately with the following: Ms. Sullivan, Thank you for your message regarding our computer systems.ÿ We appreciate your taking the time to contact us online. We understand the diligence with which our computer systems must be maintained to accommodate the new millennium.ÿ We have, for some time, been taking steps to ensure a smooth transition into the new century so that our customers will experience no interruption in service, or problems with their accounts. Fidelity has already begun to identify solutions, increase awareness, and provide the leadership that will prepare the organization for the turn of the century.ÿ We are currently analyzing and enhancing the millions of lines of code throughout Fidelity and evaluating all of Fidelity's enhanced systems - from the mainframe to the desktop - guaranteeing that Fidelity Investments is ready for the year 2000.ÿ In addition, we are reviewing the legal concerns surrounding compliance that must be taken into consideration, as each vendor utilized by the organization may approach the Year 2000 differently. In fact, Fidelity has completed an internal inventory and review of its applications, and has also undertaken an extensive review and communication program with its technology vendors and data providers. An enterprise-wide program was launched in early 1996 and is well on its way of ensuring firm-wide Year 2000 compliance by the end of 1998. We are working to ensure Year 2000 compliance throughout the Fidelity Brokerage family of Application Systems (FBSI).ÿ Our goal is to ensure that FBSI can accommodate 12/31/99 processing and to have completed the Year 2000 conversion by 12/31/98.ÿ During the conversion process, aswell as after, we will be utilizing integrated application testing, critical operating system testing, vendor product testing, street testing, disaster recovery testing and vendor bug fixes necessary for Year 2000 certification, as well as any post Year 2000 certification.ÿ >From a corporate perspective, Fidelity has allocated the financial, technical and management resources necessary to meet our objectives. With a current firm-wide staff in excess of 300 people, the FIDELITY 2000 project has leveraged internal application experts, and recruited additional external resources where appropriate.ÿ We have also engaged Year 2000 third-party expertise to augment our internal staff. Substantial financial resources have been budgeted for the effort with additional funds committed as required to complete system and applications conversions in a timely manner.ÿ Fidelity has implemented a strategic and integrated plan to verify compliance, not only for its internal systems and applications but for its external business partners, data providers, and other organizations in the financial services industry.ÿ This inter-dependence makes it imperative that Fidelity concern itself not only with its internal business processes and therefore is participating with industry trade groups, such as the Security Industry Association (SIA), to respond to the Year 2000 issue.ÿ In particular, Fidelity has joined the Data Management Division (DMD), or technology arm, of the SIA in its efforts to assure that member firms have the ability to process their business correctly into the Year 2000.ÿ The DMD/SIA is pursuing a pre-2000 street test of Year 2000 processing to validate critical member firms interaction and processing.ÿ Fidelity plans not only to participate but also take a lead in this test effort. Due to these early initiatives, Fidelity is currently well positioned in its mission to ensure seamless processing for all Fidelity systems and applications relating to Year 2000 issues, resulting in uninterrupted business operations and service to Fidelity customers.ÿ We hope to provide more information regarding this subject via our Web site and Focus magazine as we get closer to turn of the century. Again, we appreciate your message.ÿ If you have further questions or comments, feel free to send another message anytime.ÿ We look forward to hearing from you. Andrew Harman Fidelity Brokerage Services, Inc., Member NYSE, SIPC

To: Caroline who wrote (48)	4/18/1998 1:40:00 AM
From: Hawkmoon	Respond to of 888

Actually Caroline, I've met THE Y2K manager for Fidelity and SHE is one squared away lady. While understandably cautious about being fully compliant, she mentioned that they feel reasonably sure that they will not suffer a catastrophic failure. However, she wasn't so sure about some of the mutual funds or the Asian and European financial market as a whole. There has been some discussion at higher levels on possibly decoupling the US from those foreign financial markets. She may have been BS'ing us, but she sure put on a good show and portrayed no illusions about the seriousness of the matter. Regards, Ron