Four companies that rely heavily on bulk shipping are establishing a cooperative online exchange, a move that industry analysts say will transform the way traditional shipping markets work.
The new exchange, LevelSeas.com, is being set up by two oil companies (BP Amoco and Shell), a food processor (Cargill) and a shipbroker (Clarksons). According to analysts, LevelSeas.com could control up to 10 percent of all bulk commodity movements from the day it goes online.
LevelSeas, however, intends to be neutral platform, open to all sides of the shipping industry.
"This will act as a real catalyst for change in the industry -- and change for the better," said Jan Kopernicki, vice president of shipping for Shell International Trading and Shipping. "Nothing else offers a seamless service to take us from the start to the end of a voyage."
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Overwhelmed: It's not only the numbers on the Nasdaq that are taking a beating right now; the Nasdaq itself is getting whacked pretty good, too.
The exchange reported Wednesday that its order-routing system was functioning properly, but that the systems of its broker-dealers were slowing down due to record stock trading volume.
A spokesman for the National Association of Securities Dealers, the Nasdaq's parent, said that some NASD broker-dealer firms were having trouble with their own systems, which was slowing down the trade-processing system.
The Nasdaq, the second-largest U.S. stock market, revealed the problem after brokers suspected that SelectNet, the market's main order-routing facility, was buckling under the explosive volume it has faced lately.
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Meanwhile, in London: If the Nasdaq was limping a bit, the London Stock Exchange was crippled -- for a full eight hours -- in the worst system failure in the exchange's history.
The failure was caused by corrupt data, an exchange spokesman said. No further details were provided.
To make up for lost time, the exchange extended its trading day two hours. That failed to mollify a lot of traders, however, who were trying to keep abreast of the volatile U.S. markets.
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Empire building: BellSouth and SBC Communications said Wednesday that they will combine their U.S. wireless telephone operations to create the nation's second-largest wireless carrier.
The venture, which may pursue an initial public offering, will have an estimated 16.2 million subscribers. That would rival Verizon Wireless, the joint venture between Bell Atlantic and Vodafone AirTouch that launched earlier this week.
The BellSouth-SBC alliance would also bump AT&T's wireless business down to No. 3 in the pecking order.
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Briefly told: DuPont, the leading U.S. chemicals company, said it will close two European plants and eliminate 900 jobs as part of a company restructuring.... Toyota plans to raise its stake to $1.14 billion in a new Japanese telecommunications giant, a move expected to reinforce its commitment to new technology.
Reuters contributed to this report.
