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

To: John Mansfield who wrote (5058)	3/26/1999 5:34:00 PM
From: Paul Berliner	Respond to of 9818

BRIDGE PRESS: Y2K: Taiwan markets may close 2 days early at year-end news.bridge.com By Stephen Burstein, Bridge News Taipei--March 26--Taiwan's Securities and Futures Commission said Friday it may allow the stock and futures markets to close two days earlier than normal at the year end to enable completion of settlement of trading before the beginning of 2000 as a measure to avoid computer snafus. An official from the SFC said that as a result, the market's last day of trading would be Dec. 29, instead of the traditional Dec. 31. "This is a proposal that securities brokerages may make and forward to the Taiwan Stock Exchange," the official said. He added, "We will make a decision once we receive a proposal, but there's a strong likelihood we would approve it." However, if banks decide to halt operations ahead of schedule at the end of the year to close books before the beginning of 2000, the SFC won't rule out pushing the closing date of the markets even earlier, the official said. The SFC has sanctioned task forces from either the Cabinet or Industrial Development Bureau to randomly stage inspections of companies or factories to understand the state of their Y2K preparations, he said. The Y2K problem is one faced by older computers that have counters not programmed to notch up the figure 2000 at the start of the year in their systems and instead register "00," a factor that could play havoc with systems globally. The commission official noted that from June 18-20, the Taiwan Stock Exchange will carry out computer testing with brokerages, the securities depository, the futures exchange and securities finance companies. He said while some companies have made adequate preparations for Y2K, the progress of some firms isn't "ideal." End By Bridge News Please see news.bridge.com for a complete list of Bridge media rewrites.

To: John Mansfield who wrote (5058)	3/26/1999 11:17:00 PM
From: flatsville	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

Friday March 26 2:30 AM ET Big Oil Exporters Pose Key Y2K Puzzle By Andrew Mitchell LONDON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia is best prepared of all Middle East oil exporters to cope with the Year 2000 computer bug problem but the whole region could do more to cope with potential supply disruptions, a U.N. official said Thursday. ''Most Middle East producers have implemented programs to try and solve the problem, and Saudi Arabia is at the head of them,'' said Mohammed Mrayati, science and technology adviser for the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). ''But in many of them no contingency plans exist in case things do go wrong so we have advised them to develop measures.'' The United States recently admitted fears that its reliance on oil imports from outside the industrialized world makes it vulnerable to a supply crunch if, as predicted, computers around the globe fail to recognize the dawn of year 2000. ''Nearly 50 percent of the oil used in the U.S. comes from foreign sources, yet many of the countries have a high risk of failure,'' a Senate special committee report said this month. Three of the top five U.S. oil suppliers -- Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria -- are up to 18 months behind in preparing for the millennium bug, the report said. Another key exporter, Kuwait, is understood to be especially far back. The Senate report said the industry and the federal government needed to monitor the situation carefully, saying U.S gasoline prices could rise sharply if crude supplies were hit. Saudi Arabia's progress on millennium bug compliance is particularly important as it is comfortably the world's biggest oil producer. ''Like a lot of the producers the government has handed the problem over to its state oil company, and Saudi Aramco has got American companies in to help it,'' said the U.N.'s Mrayati. Surprisingly, Iraq's two million bpd of exports should not be hit too hard, despite its long isolation by U.N sanctions. ''Iraq is aware of the problems and local officials say they are dealing with it,'' said Mrayati. ''They are also less vulnerable because they have missed out on a lot of modern automation over the last decade.'' The threat of supply chaos early in 2000 will bolster lowly oil prices later this year as traders buy advance provisions, analysts said. As well as potential oilfield shutdowns, refineries and oil tankers could suffer. Some shipping bodies are understood to have decided not to carry any oil around the turn of the year. (Other than Chevron?) ''It wouldn't take more than a two percent cut in output -- 1.5 million bpd -- to dramatically alter oil market fundamentals and lead to a significant price increase,'' said Peter Bogin of Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) in Paris. The biggest question mark will remain against how the big oil exporters of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa will cope. A senior Libyan technology official said that its state oil company was working hard to minimize the threat of any problems, but admitted that time was running short. ''We are taking the matter very seriously,'' he said ''But it will be another six months before we know the full situation, and even then unforeseen problems can never be ruled out.''