Here is some news though it is old I will include comments.

WASHINGTON -- The White House, Securities and Exchange Commission and major Wall Street players, moving to calm investors' fears from Y2K doomsayers, said Tuesday that the first trading day of 2000 will be business as usual.

"I'm very, very pleased that we're able, as an industry, to report to 70 million Americans who are owners of equities securities that the first trading day of (2000) will be business as usual," New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso said at a news conference at SEC headquarters.[Yeah right! Read on to find the truth]

Grasso, seated next to Frank Zarb, chairman of the National Association of Securities Dealers, which is parent of the Nasdaq stock market, said "the two principal markets have conducted all of the necessary tests" so that "investors will consider the first trading day (of 2000) to be just another trading day." [Who cares where anybody is sitting]

Concerned that some investors are worried over doom and gloom predictions of computer crashes resulting from the date changeover, Grasso told investors "Please, do not, do not, subscribe to the theories some have espoused. [If you do then we cannot do business and that would be bad for us]

"We are going to be an industry that will conduct its business in a routine fashion" on Jan. 3, the first trading day of the new year, the chairman of the Big Board said. [Getting tired of hearing this? They want to drive the point home by saying it several times]

Marc Lackritz, head of the Securities Industry Association, the massive Wall Street lobbying group, said at the news conference: "We've checked and re-checked all of our computers, and we've tested and re-tested all of our systems, and we think we're very well prepared for the conversion on Jan. 1, 2000."

[WHOA!! What the hell happened to "I'm very, very pleased that we're able, as an industry, to report to 70 million Americans who are owners of equities securities that the first trading day of (2000) will be business as usual,"!! Now it sound as if you are not so sure of that]

Just to make sure, there will be one more industry-wide test on Jan. 1, said Zarb, explaining that it "will give us an opportunity to reaffirm that all we think is well continues to be well."

[Like you have any choice in that. Is phrasing your statement in a confusing way so that nobody understands you normal now a days?]

There are still bound to be "some mistakes," SEC Chairman Levitt told reporters, but "I am assured that those mistakes are minimal."

[Assured by WHO and what do "some mistakes" affect?]

PUBLIC MISCONCEPTION THE WORST FEAR

Levitt, who is Wall Street's regulatory overseer, said his worst fear is public misperception about what would happen if some computers misread the new year as 1900 instead of 2000, possibly causing major disruptions around the world.

"There are those that thrive on that kind of anxiety (who) would do a great harm in terms of public understanding of the issues," said Levitt, adding that his own agency is Y2K-ready.

[Like the article above says]

To set the record straight, the SEC, NASD, SIA and the mutual fund industry's Investment Company Institute have banded together to create an investor kit that offers advice, such as the importance of keeping good records of bank and investment account statements.

[Why don't you do this already?]

The kit, available online, also tells investors not to drastically change their investing habits and not to worry about obtaining stock certificates.

[Because if they are wrong it would be bad for them]

It can be accessed through the SEC's Web site, www.sec.gov; the NASD site, www.nasd.com; the SIA site, www.sia.com; or the ICI site, www.ici.org.

The White House's Y2K chief, John Koskinen, said: "If people have hard, real information, they'll be able to respond appropriately to the challenges as we move to the end of this year."

[Dude, that IS the PROBLEM you moron! Nobody knows exactly what will happen and therefore there is no HARD EVIDENCE or REAL INFORMATION]

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) 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

I dont know about you but all of this spin is making me dizzy. I love when reporters say + at the start of an article and - at the end so the whole thing = nothing but words.

-- dragoneyez (dragoneyez@mindspring.com), September 10, 1999

Answers

There is something about this line: "...tells investors not to drastically change their investing habits and not to worry about obtaining stock certificates."

Doesn't strike you as odd that they tell you not to stop spending your money in the insane fashion that has pervaded this bull/bear market? And with the issue of stock certificates? Why can't we get 'em if we want 'em? Are they not the PROOF of ownership? Essentially they (thae market) want you to close your eyes to the obvious. "...you are feeling verrry sleepy....vvveerrry sleepy.....thats it....zzzzzzzz"

-- Billy-Boy (Rakkasn@Yahoo.com), September 10, 1999.

My wife and I watched the Press conference and were very amused at the question and answer portion. There were some great questions and lousy answers.

Often, when a question was asked, everyone would look at one another hoping that someone else would answer. Funny, but kind of sad.

-- Mike Lang (webflier@erols.com), September 10, 1999.