-Caveat Lector- >From The Guardian (London) http://www.newsunlimited.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,80980,00.html Germans fluff their date with destiny Jill Treanor and John Cassy Friday September 10, 1999 Technical problems at the German futures and options exchange yesterday fuelled fears in City dealing rooms that the markets could face crisis as a result of the millennium computer bug. The computer glitches, which prevented some firms from trading and running the risk of potential losses, took place yesterday - numerically written 9.9.99. Market regulators and computer experts had seen yesterday, while not quite a dry run for the turn of the year, as a test for systems ahead of the real millennium bug. Yesterday was significant because the date - 9.9.99 - was used in old computer conventions to indiciate to programs that they should stop performing certain tasks. Any hiccups which emerge after yesterday's trading will send severe warnings to the markets about the potential for meltdown in trading early in the new year if computers fail to recognise the last two digits of the year 2000. Dealers fear that if computers stop working they will not be able to trade, which might leave them exposed to enormous losses. The rumours of problems were not confined to the German exchange. The internal message board at one leading investment bank in London warned of problems with price information received from Simex, the Singapore futures exchange. The message, posted as a warning by the bank's traders in Singapore, said that the problems were caused by 9/9/99 glitches. The Eurex exchange in Frankfurt insisted that problems incurred by its clients first thing yesterday morning were not connected to the 9/9/99 computer problem. However, brokers claimed that in response to their initial inquiries, the exchange had blamed the date problem. Some users of the electronic German exchange had been forced to re-start their computers yesterday because they had stalled overnight. A spokesman for Eurex said: "The problems which occurred were not related to Y2K or the 9/9/99 problem." Eurex said the problem, quickly resolved, was caused by the failure of some computers to receive a signal, which could have happened on any day of the week. One source in London insisted yesterday: "Eurex admitted to members early on that it was having 9/9/99 problems." The City regulator, the Finanial Services Authority, had asked the firms it regulates to alert it to any problems encountered, but had not been told of any. -- Dan S DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
