11/14/07

Trading interruptions hit on BISX

Trading on the country's stock exchange was interrupted both last Friday and yesterday due, it would appear, to circumstances beyond BISX's control.

"Trade was interrupted by work being done in the Village Rd. area," said one trader Tuesday. "It was also interrupted on Friday.

"BISX notified us right away."

Guardian Business could not reach the exchange Tuesday.

Trading on both days did take place despite the interruptions, with shares in Consolidated Water losing 23 cents to close Friday at $6.32.

Last July, BISX on-line trading was suspended for at least two days, with brokers agreeing to come into the exchange's office to manually execute orders.

Those troubles coincided with introduction of new trading software — QuickTrade — which has been internationally lauded for its flexibility and user-friendliness.

Yesterday's interruptions to trading are more likely based on BEC's work in the area and that of other utilities.

They like us, they like us!

Market testing of a cellphone watch in Nassau as a precursor to sales in the U.S. was so success, says the distributor, he's now setting up a downtown shop to hawk the gadgets on a full-time basis.

"We were surprised with the number of calls coming in about the cellphone watches," said Keenan Lewis of Wristphone International. "The first week we received a decent amount of feedback and calls, but the second week the word spread throughout the islands and the few commercial samples we had were sold out."

The response may have everything to do with the newness of the mobile phone that is also a watch. It has yet to see widespread distribution in the States. But the success of Lewis's Nassau marketing blitz likely bodes well for a similar campaign in the U.S.

For The Bahamas, Lewis and his Bahamian partner are aiming to set up shop in the downtown core by the beginning of December, with the goal of shifting 300 of the high-tech, GSM devices.

That may be a challenge given the price point, starting somewhere in excess of $400.