Markets in Brief

The Mekorot water utility will be testing new water-monitoring products from startup CheckLight, of Ori Yogev's Whitewater group. What new products? Specially sensitized luminescent (non-pathogenic) bacteria. The test will take place at Mekorot's main filtering center, Eshkol, located in the Jezreel Valley, which is the fourth-largest facility of its kind in the world. More to the point, the bioluminescent bugs react to even low concentrations of contaminants, such as heavy metals, which makes them potentially more sensitive than many chemical assays. (Paz Vaysman and TheMarker)

Some buy muscle cars to beef up their egos. Others buy cargo ships, it seems. CEO Edni Simkin of MSC Israel said yesterday, at an Israel Shippers' Council conference, that six years of boom in container shipping led to a misguided confidence that the good times would continue forever. And that in turn led shipping companies to step up their orders for new ships. "I dare to say that some of the grounds for the orders weren't economic, but relied on ego or emotion," Simkin said. The big companies bought to preserve their status, while the minnows bought in order to try and join the big leagues, he said. The upshot has been a huge glut in capacity. There are so many ships being built (these things take time) that even if not one more is ordered, in 2014 capacity will have increased by 42%, said Simkin. (Avi Bar-Eli)

At the same Israel Shippers' Council conference, council chairman Gad Sheffer suggested that Israel's port workers could sleep easy if privatization was keeping them awake at night: Nobody would buy a port that only operates five days a week, he spelled out. Neighboring ports in the region have been investing enormously in new docks that work seven days a week. The next phase of the great reform of Israel's port corporations (Ashdod and Haifa) is supposed to be floating 15% of their stock next year. Sheffer seems to suspect that the stock will sink like a stone. (Avi Bar-Eli)

The decision as to whether or not to establish a biometric database of all Israeli citizens can wait for two more years, the ministerial committee in charge of making the decision decided yesterday. The committee, consisting of ministers Eli Yishai, Michael Eitan (who opposes the database), Isaac Herzog and Meir Sheetrit (who initiated the biometric database law), decided that the draft biometric bill will actually be raised in Knesset for voting into law next week. But the draft will come adorned with the legislative equivalent of a post-it note, that the actual decision on establishing a biometric database will wait for 24 months. Which means what? That if you want a "biometric passport" or ID, you'll be able to get one during those two years. (Zvi Zrahiya)

Developers have no copyrights - on their part - in the development of software code for their employees, the Supreme Court has ruled. High-tech worker Shragai Levy sued Tamal Information Systems for copyright on software whose development, he argued, he had lead. He based his claim on his leadership position on the development team, along with performance of "important and substantial work" over a period of many years. The Tel Aviv District court rejected his claim in 2008, but Levy appealed the decision. (Guy Grimland)

Ninety kibbutzim that invested the pension money of their members in the Tshura pension fund run by the National Workers Organization have lost about NIS 150 million, reports Yedioth Hakibbutz. In the 1980s, representatives of the kibbutzim sought out an attractive pension fund that would ensure the livelihood of members in their dotage. The pension funds run by the Histadrut labor federation were in horrible condition at the time, with gigantic actuarial deficits. They wound up choosing Tshura, which was run by former finance minister Abraham Hirchson and others. (Amiram Cohen)