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Tuesday, August 22

Explosion, power outage halts CDNX

By JEFF GRAY Globe and Mail Update

A small electrical explosion caused a power failure at the Vancouver building where the Canadian Venture Exchange keeps its computers, stopping trading for the day on Tuesday.

The CDNX said in a statement that the power went out at 8:15 a.m. PDT. The Vancouver Fire Department says a small fire in the electrical room on the 22nd floor of the Granville Street building caused the blackout. No one was injured.

The CDNX, which has facilities on the sixth floor, kept going on backup power for another half hour, but pulled the plug on the trading day at 8:40 PDT.

The building was evacuated, and most of the exchange's 200 employees were sent home, said Donna Pincott, the exchange's director of corporate communications.

The Toronto Stock Exchange also delayed trading Tuesday morning after technical problems.

Ms. Pincott, speaking from the CDNX's Calgary offices, said it looked as though Canada's junior exchange would likely be up and running again Wednesday, when trading is to begin at 9:30 EDT, or 6:30 PDT.

"The early indications are good," Ms. Pincott said.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), August 22, 2000