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Biotech / Medical : XOMA. Bull or Bear? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Marji who wrote (6644)	7/11/1998 1:27:00 AM
From: celeryroot.com	Respond to of 17367

I am really worried now...maybe we shd start investing in hospitol shelters.....sort of like the old bomb shelters. Also, we will have to stock up on medical supplies.

To: Marji who wrote (6644)	7/11/1998 1:30:00 AM
From: schadenfreude	Respond to of 17367

>>what about the Y2K problems? I have not seen anybody address this issue... the hospitals and other medical institutions could be totally shut down in a few months... they may have to stop all trials. Also possibly shut down, this SI thread. Has no one given any thought to this dreadful prospect? All these plans to either sell XOMA later, or make a killing later... may all be for nought<< If the hospitals etc. shut down in a few months, holding XOMA stock will be the least of our problems. Otaku

To: Marji who wrote (6644)	7/11/1998 1:35:00 AM
From: aknahow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 17367

Marji, guess we will have to stop dying or getting sick. There are so many things specific to XOMA to worry about I don't see how the Y2K problem will be of any greater concern to XOMA holders than any other company. My real concern is with the Y2K companies that may be sued if and when their solutions prove less than perfect. <g>

To: Marji who wrote (6644)	7/11/1998 3:08:00 AM
From: Tharos	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 17367

So the mysterious Y2K problem rears its ugly head on the Xoma thread. Perhaps I can answer your question by telling you what the problem is: When computers were being built in the 50's and 60's no one gave much thought to the new millenium, as evidenced by everyday forms that have 19 before the final 2 digits of the year. My checks drawable on US banks all have that 19. How does this affect us and what will shut down? Early IBM PCs and compatibles have a bios chip that is not capable of identifying the year as 2000, since most of these were not capable of going past the late 80's, it is doubtful that they are in use (at least not without a bios revision). These are pre-286 models. So called "Big Iron," mainframes and minicomputers will not have this problem. Much of the software assumes it is 19xx-something. What this does is makes it impossible for safely computing interest rates and registering things like births and deaths in 2000+. Even some of the "fixed" software has trouble. I have an electronic form that I purchased, it accepts 1999, and 2001, but not 2000. I am after the company that built the form to send me a fix. Anyway, computers will not automatically stop working Jan 1, 2000. Hospitals will not stop working, equipment will not fail, banks will not blow up, and your credit card company will not forget how much you owe them (damn the bad luck!). What will happen is any computation that requires a pre-2000 date will not be reliable if the date has been recorded in a DD-MM-YY format. For example, if the computer's software reads 2000 as year 00 and my 1955 birth date as 55, then the computer would compute my age as -55 years old (I can only wish ;-) ). Only those programs using a DD-MM-YYYY format will be reliable. This is why Y2K companies go into firms, analyze their software, and update it as necessary to provide for the complete year. This is in truth an impossible task because of the nature of computer programs and computer programmers (bad code, no documentation). Jan 1, 2000 may actually be a field-day for the average Joe. Lawyers are lined up in anticipation of all of the lawsuits, class action and other wise, that will be filed against banks and the government. Anyway, affect on hospitals and Xoma is zip, other than they may not be able to immediately bill you for services or verify your insurance is current. Can't imagine with the problem being identified that they are going to risk denying services, just in case it is a computer glitch. Something to consider is that this problem will identify itself before Jan 1, 2000. Any organization that works on fiscal years will identify it at the beginning of the fiscal year. For example, the US Federal government's fiscal year 2000 starts Oct 1, 1999.

To: Marji who wrote (6644)	7/14/1998 8:26:00 AM
From: jackie	Respond to of 17367

A few years ago there was a strike on the part of interns and other physicians in the LA area. The death rates during the strike period went down. This would indicate iatrogenic (induced inadvertently by a physician or his treatment) sources of disease and death are greater than we would care to admit. Maybe shutting down the hospitals for a while would have the same effect, only on a national scale. Regards, Jack Simmons PS - on a more serious note, readers of this thread may be as interested in the article found at washingtonpost.com as I was.