Dec. 29 is d-day on Wall St.

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

A well-placed banking correspondent of mine who works in the World Trade Center tells me that the excitement on Wall St starts December 29th. That night, the Street's software talent will be staying at work to see if the days trades settle properly.

Financial trades generally settle 3 days after the transactions, making the 29th the first trading day when trades settle across the y2k boundary.

In addition to this, the financial firms will start closing their books for the year starting about the 28th.

Many Wall Streeters will be in residence from the 28th through to the 2nd or 3rd, staying in financial district hotels, in order to babysit settlements and closing.

By the way, THERE IS NO NEW YEARS HOLIDAY IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY. Both Friday the 31st and Monday the 3rd are working days for banks.

I have no word as to whether we the public will be informed if there are difficulties with trade settlement during the last week of December. I imagine that the bosses will want to keep a lid on it, to prevent a run on the Street.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Computers are stupid and they don't care.

-- Brady Wiseman (brady@docuscribe.com), December 13, 1999

Answers

Dear Brady, See an earlier post by Helium Sunday 12th Dec on the bigger players on the London Stock Exchange virtually ceasing to trade from TODAY in order to wrap up the books before Rollover.The original article appeared in the business section of the Observer newspaper (pub.Britain)Sunday 12th dec & can be read online.There is a serious warning for private investors not to get burnt.

-- Chris (griffen@globalnet.co.uk), December 13, 1999.

Here's a Link to the Observer article about trading restrictions on the London exchange.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), December 13, 1999.

And here is the article from England

Millennium bug limits City dealing

Paul Farrelly, City Editor Sunday December 12, 1999

Top city institutions have placed unprecedented restrictions on stock exchange dealing from this weekend due to millennium bug fears.

The strict controls may leave private speculators badly burned as the market experiences record swings in share prices in thin trading. Last week City regulators warned private investors of the dangers of rushing into fashionable sectors such as telecoms and the Internet. Speculation by ordinary punters, plus a rush to get deals out of the way before New Year's Eve, has led to record dealing in the past month.

This week, however, the City's biggest players - including Prudential, Mer cury and Schroders - will wind down trading before Christmas. Institutions fear trading partners will be hit by computer breakdown, playing havoc with payments.

Those that continue dealing will, in the main, do only 'necessary' trades with the approval of chief investment officers or with a list of approved counter-parties.

'Institutions are packing up for Christmas. No one wants to be a hero before Y2K,' said one fund manager. 'But private investors are still dealing like dervishes. That's quite scary.'

Another chief fund manager said: 'There is colossal potential for speculators to come unstuck. There could be a very nasty setback in the new year.'

-- Brian (imager@home.com), December 13, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ