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rl rt o t by patrick casey j a j a r rssjfrvyr 01 they are alale of two york regionc6mpanlesi i trapped irr the infdst pf the most volatile stock market in nearly 13 years va v- with an initial public offering ipo prepared for an aril launch on the toronto stock exchange thbrnhillbased onxcom inc hedged jts bete arid went public entering the market on the first day sincethe worst singlesession point losses ever for the tse 300 indexthe dow jones industrial averagearid the nasdaq composite index v- j the issue at105b reg- isteredite first executed trade at 750 aha today has settled below the 6 figure but die company wtiich reported revenues of 150 million last yearwas successful in raising 40 million v raisirigcapital plus gaining a market presence are the primary gdalsof goingpublid worst time to go public it has been awhirlwirid adven- tare admits david andrews the chief financial officer for onx a canadiah in providing e business solutions for companies competing in the new web ecorio- my we have probably chosen the worst time to go public in order to grow and prosper x you need to have the currency thereare certain things in life you can controlndcertain things you r chairperson and president phil deleori left and cochairperson and ceo sheldon pollack s v- i v f- of stock trading highlighted by the crushing blow investors encoun- tered in 1929 where business soft- wafeofnpanies t6day mdif- ference it was railroad stocks that derailed in the latel9th century- cant therecomes a time you have and a hikem us interestrates to stop worrying about the stoclc whelped tumble thedow jones i going up and down and focus on industtialaverage resulting in the what you are good at 500point drop on black monday atmesaineumeinsystems oct 19 1987f jteclirioiogies inc founder michael j nigelstolces meanwhile recalls egan took the oppositeapproach following a twoweek postpone- riient he pull back the reins on his fifrris ipp indefinitely cvftdisappointmencfof sure for- yettradedforaslitdeas550 thepresident and chief executive the price has rebounded and officer of themarkham supplier of v nowhovers around 17 for the software solutions for the insiir- markharn firm that registered sales ance industry initjaftef using the last year of 422 million for soft- last fqiiryesis to position his corii- ware that allows otherwise incom- onxcom inc co trading activity was going to bey at all its a matter of being patient very low we are a small hightech the window isclqsed right company in canada and it didnt now so grow the business with really make any sense to do it- rapid growth and profitability and this springs market crash is 5 have adequate cash reserves on certainly nothing new in the world hand perhaps do another private nfcfnwrahinerhicrhiiahtohhvtho round of invesdtients and be ready when the window opens up again some dark days more than three years ago when his datamirror corp went public in a shaky mar- ket with shares earmarked for 11- more than 460 emplyees meanwhileonxs nervouspub jic entry was accqmplishedaftervj internal discussions were held o t debatogwhethertopullthej50s plug a decisiorimvestors would not nave held against ny cofounded in 1983 by phillip delebn and sheldon pollackvand jtpdayemploying more than 450 people in seven different offices if we can weather thestbrm we should have a phenomenal stbry added andrews t and egari whose firm was recently honoured as one of w canadas tortebusinesses said he j will revisit an ipo for insystems i actually see this as a blessing 1 1 indisguise raising money is not t really an issue with us because there isa lot of private money out there right nowrespecially the ven- turecapitahstsin the united states he said when ypuare a j private firing you are not under the spotlight k 7 i have never taken a company public before but i learned a lot l and asabompany we learned a l lot it was a littie discouraging for t jbut andrews said negotiations- theemployees because you get were at such an advancedstage emotionally involved in it as much the decision to abort would have s a we would have liked to have r made little sense i d6neititsreallynbttnatbiga look at the flight of a 747 air- deal plane over the pacific ocean if you meanwhile lome erenbergw are halfway but you might as well offers a quick solution for the jit eepgoingbutifyou are before t investor look to the safety of pantforanidekblseririgtb patible corporate databases to the halfway markryou can always s r i a r s xi turn rrnnh aab iro rctth half the bond market each other t believed it ciidnt really impact us t tubusstock markets have closed sowb kept working on it then the wiridowbf opportunity for when it crashed i said we are a v emerinrpos for the next six to real company withcustomers and we wbiild be fine recalled egare but then j started to see the sig- rials that othercompanie were having trouble with theirjpos i tookthe two weeks to really absbrbeverythirig that happened because i was cauit up in tire frenzy in the end the likelihood of emerging ipos fofthenextsix to ninpmnnmc nine months these public windows open and close regularly said stokes who fouriided datamirror in 1993 and has kcperienced sales growth v of 35946 per cent iri the last five veafsthere are times when you catfgq publicwith great volumes and tiriiesvirtiertyou cant go public turn around we were past the half way mark he saicuwe forged ahead and hopefully die markets will recognize our strengths r k there were rnany ipos aborted oyer the last 212 months but we c federal arid provincial guar- wanted the visibility of bemgv antees v f i public company that will help us j- the market volatility is driving nr- i people into safe andfixedw in january the thornhill resi- dent launched ebond lid canadas first online bond mvest- merit bealership ak 1 v wwwebondca investors caripiir- draw business the market is no longer going to tolerate the bright idea dotcofn venture that does not have sound fundairientals but cus- tomers that have followed our story are very impressed we have done this in an unsettled time incomes said erenberg7 a former chief trader in asia bonds repre- i sent a different part of your invest- mentstrategy c vv some part of your portfolio should have minimal risks publiofeedback welcome on t y school board budgeted c x parerits have bnrchande v tbinfluence public school bpard trustees asthey bring down a v- budget for next year- l- york region district schbqlj board ofircialsare acceptingr- 7 input fbftrieir 2000 geti which is approxirnately board chairperson bill crbthers noted the public can snvefeedbackonthedqci mentrwhich trustees are tbfbr- t irially approve july 4 r j at the rnomentitlias gone vtlubugh the budget processbut anything can change between now and the fourth of july he t said monday after a twohour meeting tfiusday will not schedule any formal v meltings before july4 rnake any riiajor changes tojfte hud- officials note it contains extra rrioney for student programs suchasspe- i ciateduca- tion but there is debate as to 1 whether that will mean 7 much for the average stii- i dehtinthe c boardj days after j saying it will r t v not offer ythingbew for kids t crothers rioted the budget will likely bringdown a small -jl- increase in spending perbhildr it the first budget inv l l of years that represents anincrease in the amount of j perstudent funding he saidv other highlighfeofjthe bud- get include vlv i an increase of nearly 75 per cent overjast years total an additional 28 million for special education 1 a hike of almost 2 per cent tothe teacher salary grid and a related increase for senior r bureaucrats t crothers did not say whether thatwill be enbughwhen board riegbtiatbrs meet cwertthenext- few riidriths to harhmef out a collective agreement with their teachers their current contract r expires aug 31 catholic officials have already reacheb a deal that will prevent their teachers from striking next septeriiber gianni colavecchia r 4 s t f bill crothers y m lt vi v 5- l vt tt -v-j- yj