Shares in Zitel Corp, Fremont, California, a disk array integrator, had been reaching for the sky on gossip that George Soros was amassing a stake because of its mere 33% stake in Matridigm Corp, which develops products to deal with the Year 2000 problem. On Monday this week alone, the shares rose more than $10.625 to make a high of $72.875 in early trading, then fell by more than 31 points to close at $41, down $20.25 or 33% after executives at Soros Fund Management declined commen. But a person close to the investor told traders and reporters that Soros had not bought any shares; equally loony was that a whole string of other companies with Year 2000 connections rose and fell in sympathy on the tide Zitel created.
