Just got off the phone with my Canadian broker (TD Waterhouse) and he said the whole primary computer system is down and they are struggling with the back-up system (it too is having problems, but not as severe yet, thogh very cumbersome). He said he has never seen it like this, and that other brokerages use the same system access so they are probably having problems too. No ETA for repair either.

I asked him the cause and he said he didn't know, but that again he'd never seen this before.

All I know is I am unable to do online trading, their phone is busy busy busy and then when you do get through it's a lonnnnggg hold time. Further, their is erroneous info in my accnt, showing a sell that filled as not having been, wrong cash balance, holdings etc (due to old/ backup info and new info being manually obtained)-- both online and in their computers. It took 2 different brokers (probably more in the bkgrnd) about 12 minutes to resolve my acct (tentatively!).

Don't know if it's at ALL y2k (likely never know), but I do know it's frustrating!
:)

-- Jim Nasiom (noaqui@este.net), January 25, 2000

Answers

Jim, thanks for th report. You may also want to provide the office/city/phone number, so this can be independently verified. This type of problem is one that is not your internal company. You won't "get in trouble" for providing more facts. This is what I did with the recent Memphis problems:

Link to Memphis Update

That way, individuals can make phone calls themselves. You may also want to call the local press, to see if they can get some coverage on this. MAybe the press will hunt down the cause(s), but don't count on it.

We need this board to promote serious grass-roots, verifiable news coverage.

-- Duke1983 (Duke1983@aol.com), January 25, 2000.

Thanks, Jim. Glad I got out of my investments with TD in 1998! Please update us as you get more info.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), January 25, 2000.

You're welcome! Don't know the relevance to this forum, but thought I'd share it here. Apparently problems ongoing, don't know the details. Here are a couple notices made for TD online Brokerage users:
(BTW, TD is an international brokerage, ergo it affects all their outlets)

Date: 2000/01/25
Time: 11:00:00
Subject: DELAY IN REPORTING FILLS / DELAI AUX REPORTAGE

PLEASE NOTE: FILLS FROM MONDAY, JANUARY 25 MAY NOT BE REPORTED IN YOUR ACCOUNT. PLEASE USE CAUTION WHEN PLACING, CHANGING AND CANCELLING ORDERS. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL TD WATERHOUSE OFFICE. ********************************************************************** ****VEUILLEZ NOTER SVP: QUELQUES UNES DES EXECUTIONS DES ORDRES DU 25 JANVIER NE PEUVENT PAS AVOIR ETE RAPPORTEES AUX COMPTES. SOYEZ PRUDENT LORSQUE VOUS PLACEZ, CHANGEZ OU ANNULEZ VOS ORDRES. POUR PLUS AMPLES RENSEIGNEMENTS, S.V.P. CONTACTEZ VOTRE BUREAU TD WATERHOUSE.

---------------
Also,
Date: 2000/01/25
Time: 10:30:00
Subject: QUOTES MAY BE DELAYED/ COURS PEUVENT ETRE EN DELAI

PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, THE QUOTES MAY BE DELAYED ON THE NEW YORK AND THE TORONTO STOCK EXCHANGE. PLEASE USE CAUTION WHEN PLACING, CHANGING OR CANCELLING ORDERS. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT YOUR LOCAL TD WATERHOUSE OFFICE. ESTIMATED DURATION: UNKNOWN-------------- NOTEZ BIEN: DUES A DES DIFFICULTES TECHNIQUES, LES COURS SUR LE BOURSES DE NEW YORK ET TORONTO PEUVENT ETRE INCORRECT. SOYEZ PRUDENT LORSQUE VOUS PLACEZ, CHANGEZ OU ANNULEZ VOS ORDRES. SVP COMMUNIQUER AVEC VOTRE BUREAU TD WATERHOUSE POUR PLUS AMPLES RENSEIGNEMENTS. DUREE ESTIMEE: INCONNUE

Again apparently the comp error is affecting other Brokerages too...
No others here to report?

-- Jim Nasiom (noaqui@este.net), January 25, 2000.

The real answer (whatever the cause, and the grassroots report is always much appreciated) is that you can't rely on one broker. I've read about serious day traders that lost they're asses when they relied on one broker so they set up accounts with multiple brokers for exactly the type of situation you just reported.

Its sort of like prepping. Good luck, I hope their outage didn't cause you to lose a bunch of money. P.S. Kiplinger had a very good article comparing the on-line brokers recently. Excellent reading.

-- Guy Daley (guydaley@bwn.net), January 25, 2000.

I have TD Waterhouse account and I just checked it through their Web Broker site (4.30pm EST).

Message is still there. I didn't trade today so I won't be able to tell you if there were problems filling or reporting orders. I was able to check my balances and portolios OK though.

Will check back in tomorrow morning if there is anything else to report.

-- Johnny Canuck (j_canuck@hotmail.com), January 25, 2000.