Y2K: Business As Usual
The first major business day of the millennium opened with very few signs of Y2K computer glitches, and investors in Asia - the first region to open for work Monday - promptly sent two stock markets soaring to new heights.
Hong Kong led the way, opening to a record high and ending with a 4 percent gain, reports CBS News Correspondent Barry Petersen. The upward trend was the same in Singapore.
Reports CBS News Correspondent Barry Bagnato, White House Y2K czar John Koskinen is turning his attention to small businesses, and he expects many of them will be bitten by bugs.
"But we don't think any of that is going to accumulate in any way to have a major economic effect or even a noticeable economic effect on the country," Koskinen told reporters at the Y2K Command Center in Washington.
In fact, things are going so well the Federal Reserve is reclaiming extra money it sent to banks, and the command center will start scaling back staff and operations Tuesday.
The few problems caused by the millennial bug were more a nuisance than a catastrophe.
Weather observations in part of mainland China had to be made by hand after the circuit board of a solar measuring device in the remote northwestern region of Ningxia failed to roll over to 2000.
In Tokyo, about a dozen small brokerages reported Y2K-related glitches in a record-keeping system. They were quickly fixed. Ten small Hong Kong companies reported minor hardware or software problems possibly caused by Y2K, said K. C. Kwong, the government's secretary for information technology and broadcasting.
"We're on the verge of a major success where things are looking good around the world," Y2K International Cooperation Center Director Bruce McConnell told CBS Early Show Anchor Bryant Gumbel.
McConnell said although developing nations experienced minor problems, they were quickly solved.
"We'll keep our eyes open and expect things will happen through the week and month," McConnell said, "but I have no major concerns at this point."
There were no reports of calamitous failures as feared - and stock markets responded. London was closed for a long holiday but the other European stock markets are up, reports CBS News Correspondent Tom Fenton.
Frankfurt brokers said the economy there is showing no signs of running out of steam. Paris had a great year in 1999 and seems to be continuing where it left off. The European stock markets all went through a dry run before opening and no one is reporting Y2K glitches. Although critics said the millennium bug was a lot of hype, experts said it was money well spent.
Meanwhile, in Washington, the Social Security Administration was preparing for its busiest day of the year, reports CBS News Correspondent Diana Olick. Officials there said they expect all 3,100 field offices will be open and running without problems.
Edward Yardeni, chief economist and global investment trategist at Deutsche Bank Securities, long thought a Y2K bug would lead to a recession.
"I'm impressed by how well things have gone, especially overseas" Yardeni said. "If they keep doing this well over the next couple of days then the odds of a recession are much reduced."
He said people's awareness of the problem over the last two years helped correct the problem.
"If we have a couple more days of a flawless transition, I'll concede the recession outlook is just not there anymore."