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Tuesday November 9

Y2K rumour-control centres in the works

Biggest fear is fear itself

By Patrick Thibodeau - WASHINGTON

The White House and private businesses are developing year 2000 command centers to respond to problems and prevent rumors and myths from prompting panic buying or rash financial decisions.

"Our biggest concern has always been the fear that people will make decisions about economics, buying or selling of securities, based on a rumor," said J. Patrick Campbell, the chief operating officer at the Nasdaq.

Nasdaq plans an education campaign to inform investors about its year 2000 work. Campbell told two House committees that Nasdaq will also establish a command center that will have communications hot links with vendors, news media and the White House Y2K Information Coordination Center (ICC).

Nasdaqs operation mirrors a much broader effort by federal officials to gather information from industry and agencies about Y2K and channel it to the ICC starting Dec. 31.

At the hearing, White House Y2K Czar John Koskinen defended his relatively mild year-2000 forecast, especially his use of self-reported data from industry trade groups.

The White House and congressional committees have generally agreed that year 2000 problems -- at least domestically -- will be temporary, at worst. The White House will reaffirm that forecast in a Y2K report it will release this week, but that report will also cite problem areas that are of greatest worry -- most of them overseas, in countries such as Russia.

But the domestic Y2K forecast is based largely on trade association surveys and that has aroused suspicion, especially in the Senates Y2K committee, that the data may be too rosy.

-- Uncle Bob (UNCLB0B@Tminus53&counting.down), November 08, 1999

Answers

The more these guys waffle on, the more I am convinced that it is a GREAT thing to be out of the market and preparing for the worst. Things are so bad Mr. NASDAQ is in hyperspin mode. Anyone ever see Animal House, the scene where the guard in the street is blowing his whistle and screaming remain calm, everything is fine and he ends up getting trampled? Now picture these guys standing in front of the stock exchange in December. TeeHee!

-- Gia (laureltree7@hotmail.com), November 08, 1999.

Gia, if it wasn't such a serious matter I am pretty sure I would be ROTFLMAO

;-(

-- ;-( (karlacalif@aol.com), November 09, 1999.

NASDAQ will also begin airing commercials soon advocating their belief that stocks trading at 100x earnings or even higher multiples are actually "good deals" and that investors should invest their retirement funds in such "undervalued" companies as a way to ensure a happy and wealthy retirement.

NASDAQ: "Be fully invested, and buy every dip."

Man 'o man, this crash is really going to be something to watch. Do you think CNBC could schedule it for sWEEPS week?

-- Me (me@me.me), November 09, 1999.

Good. I think they should stop rumors that prevent "panic buying." The reason being that they only people at that date who would be "panic buying" are the Day Before The Storm People. I dislike the Day Before The Storm People. I'm all for the "gobmint" dashing some cold water on their passion o' the moment. I also dread Southern California hysteria. Last year at the Christian shopping season people stood in lines for Ferbies, had riots, clogged freeways for miles, a black market arose, and shop windows were smashed for a Ferbie. Imagine these people in a panic for a "survival" item. I think order, behavioral control, and rumor busting is an excellent way for the "gobmint" to busy itself. It can focus all its attention on the For Ferbie People who are also the Day Before The Storm People in Southern California.

I think trading should be halted. By the time national defense is endangered, which it is, the populace has lost is free movement until the storm has blown over. I don't think the "gobmint" ought to fret about "rumors" on an issue that can destroy whole nations, whole populations, militaries, and vast industries. There ought to be a global ban on trading until the end of April. A time that stood still activated by every nation on this planet "for the 6 billion people." Be it securities, bonds or stocks there should be a ban globally on all movement. 6 billion people are a lot of lives at stake in this.

We all saw for ourselves on various charts the market was following a 1929 pattern. No one has to put up with it. All nations can ban trading and not turn gray haired in a night or spend vast sums on PR nonsense. Y2K is unprecedented and if nations don't bend in the wind they will break. It calls for some unprecedented acts.

People also would not fret so much. There'd be nothing to be had in it all but to wait. Time frozen. No loss and no gain. There's something to be said for that peace. By the end of April spring will be in the air, sporadic outages will have become unintimidating, some corporations may have moved, there will be unexpected winners and losers, and sanity will reign. If there's no loss and no gain why not freeze the whole dang thing until the end of April? Whole nations and people lost wouldn't be by the hands of investors. Investors would be innocent.

Pollyanish I am sure but preparedness has gone now from just preparedness, and into the herd panic mentality of self-fulfilling prophecy with potential Day Before The Storm People leaping into the picture: Bank runs are happening, goofy safes are selling out, hysteria stunts are being pulled on corporate stocks, nations are being toasted by investors, For Ferbie people are starting to make their seasonal shopping lists, and there are false rumors being spread about. I'm just not against "gobmint" psyche and literal controls right now.

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 09, 1999.

"Our biggest concern has always been the fear that people will make decisions about economics, buying or selling of securities, based on a rumor"

Like this isn't the way much stock trading is decided upon now.

www.y2ksafeminnesota.com

-- MinnesotaSmith (y2ksafeminnesota@hotmail.com), November 09, 1999.