Very interesting - thanks!  Do you know any folks involved in this?  It
might be very interesting to write a mini-case for next year about it.

At 05:01 PM 4/4/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>Thought that you might find this interesting.
>
>Best,
>Jeff
>
>Enron Turns Internal Credit-Risk Tool Into New Product
>2001-04-04 17:19 (New York)
>
>
>
>   By Christina Cheddar
>   Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
>
>  NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--With the number of corporate bankruptcies on the
>rise,
>knowing the creditworthiness of one's customers is becoming more and more
>important.
>  For Enron Corp. (ENE), the world's largest energy trading company,
>keeping
>track of credit risk has always been part of doing business. That became
>even
>more true with the company's launch of EnronOnline, its Internet-based
>commodities trading network.
>  In order to deal with the accelerated volume and speed of transactions on
>EnronOnline, the company developed a tool to help its own commercial
>traders
>manage the credit risk.
>  Early last year, Enron rolled out this tool, Enron Credit, on a limited
>basis. Gradually, the company expanded its use and scope. Last month, the
>company re-launched Enron Credit in its current format.
>  Enron Credit tracks more than 10,000 companies, giving each a rating
>known as
>the "Enron cost of credit." The rating is expressed as an interest rate.
>  The Web site also provides news, a company's expected chance of
>bankruptcy
>and other related information.
>  While much of this information is free to registered users, Enron also
>has
>turned the product into a new revenue stream.
>  Users may download data into a spreadsheet and receive periodic updates
>for a
>fee.
>  The site also can sell a user a "digital bankruptcy swap," which is a way
>to
>hedge against credit exposure.
>  The price of the swap is determined by a rating Enron's staff assigns to
>a
>company and the amount of credit exposure a company needs to protect
>against.
>  For a supplier, the main advantage of a swap is that if a customer is
>unable
>to pay due to bankruptcy, the supplier will be paid immediately.
>  According to Enron Europe President John Sherriff, the goal of Enron
>Credit
>is to create a more efficient credit market by increasing trading
>liquidity.
>  The tool is important because "in just a short amount of time, a
>company's
>credit can go from stellar to bad literally overnight."
>  At present, some analysts haven't factored in revenue from Enron Credit
>into
>their earnings models. However, as the commodity markets Enron trades in
>mature, it is possible the need for products such as Enron Credit could
>increase.
>  -By Christina Cheddar, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5166
>
>
>