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

To: Ahda who wrote (20720)	10/5/1998 3:36:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116826

OT - Senator Dodd: 'HEARING ON THE POWER INDUSTRY: WILL THE LIGHTS GO ON JANUARY 1, 2000? June 12, 1998 OPENING STATEMENT SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE YEAR 2000 _________________ THANK YOU MR. CHAIRMAN. THIS IS THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE'S INAUGURAL HEARING AND I WANT TO EXTEND MY CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU FOR GETTING US TO THIS POINT. IF IT WEREN'T FOR YOUR TIRELESS — AND SOMETIMES LONELY — EFFORTS TO RAISE THE SENATE'S AWARENESS ABOUT THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM, I DOUBT VERY MUCH IF WE WOULD BE HERE TODAY. WHEN I WAS BACK IN CONNECTICUT LAST WEEKEND, I NOTICED A FAIR AMOUNT OF ADVERTISING FOR NEW YEAR'S EVE 1999, IN WHICH THE QUESTION WAS ASKED: "WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO FOR NEW YEAR'S? MAKE YOUR PLANS TODAY!" WHILE I DON'T KNOW WHERE ANYONE ELSE WANTS TO BE, LET ME SUGGEST THREE PLACES YOU DON'T WANT TO BE: IN AN ELEVATOR, IN AN AIRPLANE OR IN A HOSPITAL. THE FACT IS THAT WITH LESS THAN 18 MONTHS TO GO, I AM VERY CONCERNED THAT WE ARE GOING TO FACE SERIOUS ECONOMIC DISLOCATIONS FROM THIS PROBLEM. AND I AM VERY, VERY CONCERNED THAT EVEN AS GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS LEADERS ARE FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGING THE SERIOUSNESS OF THIS PROBLEM, THEY ARE NOT THINKING ABOUT THE CONTINGENCY PLANS THAT NEED TO BE PUT INTO PLACE TO MINIMIZE THE HARM FROM WIDESPREAD FAILURES. SENATOR BENNETT IS FOND OF LIKENING THIS COMMITTEE TO PAUL REVERE, SAYING THAT WE HAVE TO SOUND THE ALARM THAT THE MILLENNIUM IS COMING; WELL TODAY'S HEARING SHOULD ANSWER THE QUESTION ABOUT WHETHER THERE'S GOING TO BE ANY LIGHTS SHINING OUT OF THE OLD NORTH CHURCH. SOME PEOPLE HAVE ASKED WHY WE ARE STARTING OUR HEARINGS WITH THE POWER INDUSTRY. THE ANSWER IS BRUTALLY SIMPLE: WITHOUT ELECTRICITY NOTHING ELSE WORKS. AND THE POWER INDUSTRY PROVIDES A GOOD MODEL FOR THINKING ABOUT THE YEAR 2000 IN A LATERAL, RATHER THAN VERTICAL, MANNER. BY THAT I MEAN THAT A CORPORATE EXECUTIVE OR GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL CAN'T SIMPLY LOOK AT THE FOUR CORNERS OF THEIR BUSINESS OR AGENCY AND IGNORE THE OUTSIDE WORLD. SAY, FOR EXAMPLE, YOU TOOK ALL NECESSARY STEPS TO MAKE YOUR HOME YEAR 2000 COMPLIANT — YOU UPDATED YOUR PC AND SOFTWARE, YOU REPLACED YOUR ANSWERING MACHINE, YOU DETERMINED THAT THE VCR AND MICROWAVE WOULD STILL WORK AND YOU PUT A BRASS KNOCKER ON YOUR DOOR AS A CONTINGENCY, JUST IN CASE YOUR NEW, MODERN DOORBELL DIDN'T WORK. EVEN THOUGH YOU WERE VERTICALLY COMPLETE, YOU STILL HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE ELECTRICITY, YOUR WATER, THE MAIL, CABLE AND PHONE SERVICE, AND SO ON. THAT ANALOGY ILLUSTRATES THE WAY BUSINESS AND GOVERNMENT MUST ALSO THINK ABOUT THE YEAR 2000 PROBLEM. SINCE ALL THE UTILITIES ARE TIED TOGETHER IN THE POWER GRID AND ARE DEPENDENT UPON A WHOLE SERIES OF STEPS IN ORDER TO FUNCTION, IT IS AN EXCELLENT ILLUSTRATION OF HOW YOU CANNOT SIMPLY FOCUS ON ONE'S OWN COMPANY OR AGENCY, NO MATTER HOW BIG OR LITTLE, AND DECLARE IT YEAR 2000 COMPLIANT. SENATOR BENNETT MENTIONED THAT THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF MAJOR ENERGY PRODUCER AND IT REVEALED THAT WE ARE NOT IN VERY GOOD SHAPE. QUITE HONESTLY, I THINK WE'RE NO LONGER AT THE POINT OF ASKING WHETHER OR NOT THERE WILL BE ANY POWER DISRUPTIONS, BUT WE ARE NOW FORCED TO ASK HOW SEVERE THE DISRUPTIONS ARE GOING TO BE. GIVEN THE BREVITY OF TIME LEFT BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM CONVERSION, CONTINGENCY PLANNING HAS TO START TODAY — NOT JUST FOR THE WORST-CASE DISASTER SCENARIOS BUT FOR ALL THE MEDIUM-SIZED DISRUPTIONS THAT ARE MORE LIKELY TO OCCUR. ONE THING THAT I'VE NOTICED IS THAT EVERY COMPANY, GOVERNMENT AGENCY OR TRADE ASSOCIATION THAT I'VE MET WITH HAS A NICE NEAT CHART SHOWING THE TIMELINE FOR COMPLETION OF THEIR YEAR 2000 PROJECT. MY DEEP CONCERN IS THAT THOSE NICE, NEAT LITTLE CHARTS WILL BE BLOWN TO SMITHEREENS THE MOMENT THEY START TESTING THEIR REPAIRS. I HAVE BEEN CONSTANTLY SURPRISED BY SENIOR YEAR 2000 OFFICIALS WHO SAY WITH ONE BREATH THAT TESTING WILL TAKE JUST AS LONG AS FIXING THE CODE, AND SAY WITH THE NEXT BREATH THAT THEY NEED ONLY A FEW MONTHS FOR COMPLETE SYSTEM TESTING AFTER FIXING THE SYSTEM TOOK YEARS. NOW WHILE IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO FIGURE OUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN EMBEDDED CHIP AND A WOODCHIP, I CERTAINLY CAN DO ENOUGH MATH TO DETERMINE THAT THERE ISN'T A SINGLE COMPANY OR GOVERNMENT AGENCY THAT IS LEAVING ITSELF ANY MARGIN OF ERROR IN THESE NEAT LITTLE CHARTS THEY'RE SO FOND OF SHOWING. IT'S BEEN SAID BEFORE, BUT IT BEARS REPEATING: FAILURE IS SIMPLY NOT AN OPTION. IF THE CRITICAL INDUSTRIES AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES DON'T START TO PICK UP THE PACE OF DEALING WITH THIS PROBLEM RIGHT NOW, CONGRESS AND THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION ARE TO HAVE TO MAKE SOME VERY TOUGH DECISIONS TO DEAL WITH A TRUE NATIONAL EMERGENCY. senate.gov

To: Ahda who wrote (20720)	10/5/1998 4:14:00 PM
From: Jim McMannis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116826

Darleen, I sold half of my gold stock positions today. Why? Basically... 1. kissing swan formation from "near" intermediate term overbought conditions. Not quite overbought but too close to be greedy. Several other of my indicators were as about "as good as it gets" zones. 2. Despite another banner day for bonds, the XAU showed a 2 day reversal pattern. Indication that the bond rally as fuel for rally in the XAU is petering out. 3. With the DOW down over 200 the XAU failed to rally, taking some steam out of the "gold as a flight to quality scenario" for now. 4. I actually had a pretty decent profit and will now trade even more often. --- Actually it's the regular markets time to rally a little. Regards, Jim