Dow crash caused by one trader typing one wrong key?

[Little-Acorn]

http://www.cnbc.com/id/36999483

Stock Selloff May Have Been Triggered by a Trader Error

Published: Thursday, 6 May 2010 | 4:44 PM ET

In one of the most dizzying half-hours in stock market history, the Dow plunged nearly 1,000 points before paring those losses in what possibly could have been a trader error.

According to multiple sources, a trader entered a "b" for billion instead of an "m" for million in a trade possibly involving Procter & Gamble [PG 60.75 -1.41 (-2.27%) ], a component in the Dow. (CNBC's Jim Cramer noted suspicious price movement in P&G stock on air during the height of the market selloff. Watch.)

Sources tell CNBC the firm in question that handled the erroneous trade is Citigroup [C 4.04 -0.14 (-3.35%) ]. The bank said it has no evidence of a bad trade but is investigating the situation.

http://www.Little-Acorn.com/pics/P_G_06May2010.jpg

[KarlMarx]

That's right, stock market crashes can't occur now, we have a Democrat for a President...

remember that boys and girls

Only Republicans cause financial meltdowns

[cat slave]

Thats right...the messiah and his minions are in control...somehow I dont feel
warm and fuzzy about that.

[Insein]

There was something more at work here. 8 specific stock funds all went to 1 penny at the same time. Then all of them bounced back within 10 minutes. This was the weirdest thing Ive ever seen in the market. There's definitely going to be an investigation. I smell something really foul here.

Again, not big on conspiracy theories but first Cap and Trade comes up in Congress and an oil rig explodes. Now Finance reform is in congress and this happens today. Very weird.

[cat slave]

There was something more at work here. 8 specific stock funds all went to 1 penny at the same time. Then all of them bounced back within 10 minutes. This was the weirdest thing Ive ever seen in the market. There's definitely going to be an investigation. I smell something really foul here.

Again, not big on conspiracy theories but first Cap and Trade comes up in Congress and an oil rig explodes. Now Finance reform is in congress and this happens today. Very weird.

I agree totally! There is more going on here than meets the eye. What is
next??????:eek:

[Mr. P]

There was something more at work here. 8 specific stock funds all went to 1 penny at the same time. Then all of them bounced back within 10 minutes. This was the weirdest thing Ive ever seen in the market. There's definitely going to be an investigation. I smell something really foul here.

Again, not big on conspiracy theories but first Cap and Trade comes up in Congress and an oil rig explodes. Now Finance reform is in congress and this happens today. Very weird.

I'm with ya!

I traded options for a yr and when I heard this "B" instead of "M" mistake it stopped me dead. How could that happen? I looked into how many shares PG has outstanding, 2.88 billion. 59% held by institutions, that's plural. So how could one institution, citi, put in a trade for "Billions" when they probably don't even have that in their account?

It smells alright.

[sybarite]

I agree totally! There is more going on here than meets the eye. What is
next??????:eek:

Kind of like a bad nightmare that never ends, isn't it??:uhoh:

[Insein]

There it is. A crisis is created. Government will now move into to fix it.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/96713-white-house-doesnt-rule-out-sabotage-in-market-fluctuation


White House doesn't rule out sabotage in market fluctuation
By Sam Youngman - 05/07/10 03:29 PM ET

President Barack Obama has not ruled out sabotage in the near-panic on Wall Street Thursday afternoon.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama's economic team was jolted by the news and met with Obama shortly after the market plunged.

The president announced Friday morning that a full review is being conducted, and Gibbs said Obama is waiting to hear the results of a review before ruling out what might have caused it, including the possibility of sabotage.

“I wouldn’t rule anything in or rule anything out,” Gibbs told reporters in his West Wing office Friday. “I think that’s, appropriately, why they’re reviewing what may or may not have happened.”

Gibbs said Obama thinks the “the circumstances around this is something that should be watched or should be reviewed and looked at.”

It remains unclear what led markets to dramatically fall Thursday. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost nearly 1,000 points before rebounding.

Theories have included a technology problem and a mistaken transaction by a large trader.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Thursday announced a joint investigation of the matter.

When the market began to drop, Lawrence Summers was pulled out of meeting and spent a few minutes making phone calls before talking to the president, Gibbs said.

Summers and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met with the president later Thursday afternoon to discuss the incident.

Gibbs said when reporters, who became aware of the drop during his Thursday briefing, began asking him about it, he “thought to myself, well, I’ve only been out here for 30 minutes, what in the world has gone on?”

“You do wonder what happened," Gibbs said. “And that’s why the president has asked that we look into this and that those that regulate those entities will do so.”

[Trigg]

:tinfoil:


remember shiny side out

[OldMercsRule]

We are in a very weak (fundamentaly speaking) situation world wide with excessive debt and very weak demographics and the P & G trade just acted as a catalyst and triggered a technical event a little quicker then it otherwise would have developed, (IMHO).

Many technical support levels were violated, as large Soveriegn funds are very quick to react and big volititity in future bear markets, (that maybe underway), is likely in the highly leveraged extremely fragile world we now live in.

The SEC has allowed trades to be executed outside the NYSE which has unintended consequences, (as most things the Gubment does do). Large trades from soveriegn funds can drive prices in the illiquid markets when the NYSE is under stress and circuit breakers are triggered.

Let's just hope Mr Fixit Obamaprompter doesn't use this likely correction (or worse) as another excuse to intervene in another capitalist entity to further grow Gubment.

[SpidermanTUba]

Thats right...the messiah and his minions are in control...somehow I dont feel
warm and fuzzy about that.

So you believe government should limit the number of shares that can be sold in one keystroke?

[SpidermanTUba]

There was something more at work here. 8 specific stock funds all went to 1 penny at the same time. Then all of them bounced back within 10 minutes. This was the weirdest thing Ive ever seen in the market. There's definitely going to be an investigation. I smell something really foul here.

Again, not big on conspiracy theories but first Cap and Trade comes up in Congress and an oil rig explodes. Now Finance reform is in congress and this happens today. Very weird.

Wow. which funds?

I don't see how an oil rig exploding helps cap and trade. One of the biggest carrots being offered to the oil companies and their Republican Congressmen in exchange for voting for Cap and Trade is opening up offshore drilling.

[cat slave]

Kind of like a bad nightmare that never ends, isn't it??:uhoh:

Yeah, exactly!

[cat slave]

Wow. which funds?

I don't see how an oil rig exploding helps cap and trade. One of the biggest carrots being offered to the oil companies and their Republican Congressmen in exchange for voting for Cap and Trade is opening up offshore drilling.


Wouldnt that be suicide?

Wonder if this was a trial run for a much bigger "crash"....think about it.
And we would probably be in such chaos by Nov, the election would have
to be postponed. Think about it. Martial law and the whole ball of wax...
or other material.

[cat slave]

So you believe government should limit the number of shares that can be sold in one keystroke?

Did I say that?

[Gaffer]

Wouldnt that be suicide?

Wonder if this was a trial run for a much bigger "crash"....think about it.
And we would probably be in such chaos by Nov, the election would have
to be postponed. Think about it. Martial law and the whole ball of wax...
or other material.

I wonder the same thing. Seems somethings in the works for Nov. since the libs don't seem to mind going against the will of the people and don't seem too worried about reelection.

[Insein]

Wow. which funds?

I don't see how an oil rig exploding helps cap and trade. One of the biggest carrots being offered to the oil companies and their Republican Congressmen in exchange for voting for Cap and Trade is opening up offshore drilling.

ETFs to be precise and not all went to exactly a penny but they all went well below their opening day value and returned to it by the end of the day. 10 in all.

http://etfdb.com/2010/ten-shocking-etf-charts-from-the-flash-crash/

Two are from a company I work for. No official word on what happened here at my work. We don't managed our own funds though.

[Insein]

Also here's six stocks that went to $.01 at the exact same time during the "Flash Crash."

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/05/06/four-mega-drops-of-the-flash-crash-sam-adams-goes-flat/

There are some more that are not listed in this article.

[Insein]

Here's a weird one from the other end of the spectrum.

http://edwardwinkleman.blogspot.com/2010/05/sothebys-and-flash-crash.html


At the same time that some companies were becoming free...the auction house Sotheby's, which has the stock price [ed: I think she meant stock "name", no?] BID, B.I.D., get it? Bid...Sotheby's...auction. Sotheby's started the day with its shares costing 34 dollars and something. Sotheby's ended the day with its stock costing 33 dollars. It's a drop, but it's no big whoop, right? It goes between 34 and 33 dollars. Whatever. Until you notice that in the middle of the day, at one point, the stock price of Sotheby's shares went to 100,000 dollars, per share. Which means that at some point today, Sotheby's went from being a company worth 2.2 billion dollars to being a company worth 6.8 trillion dollars. Which means, for a minute, that one company had a net worth of somewhere between the size of the entire economies of the United States and China. Congratulations Sotheby's.


Pretty crazy.

[Babel Boy]

The May05 Dow plunge was caused by a hacker sending a shot over our bow.

My guess is Israel, China, or Russia, in decreasing likelihood.

All three are known to have very active cyberpoop operations.

None of them would benefit from the Dow completely crashing, but that's not what happened and not what was intended.

Israel particularly wants to send a message to Obama as to the consequences of the US backing up the Palestinians, particularly on the settlements issue in the upcoming "indirect" talks. The Zionists will do anything to get Obama off their back and to stack the deck in their favor.

This is a hypothesis. Out there, but no where near as insane as the media hypothesis that the problem was some screw who doesn't know billions from millions.

[Mr. P]

The May05 Dow plunge was caused by a hacker ....

I was thinking this may have been the cause just 1 hr ago.
I don't buy the mistype for a second, there are just tooo many safeguards.

[cat slave]

I dont know why Israel would want to see us crash and burn unless its the
way BO has treated them and their dignitaries and bowed and scraped to those
who intend to wipe Israel from the earth.

Hmmmmm.....I wouldnt blame them!

[cat slave]

I was thinking this may have been the cause just 1 hr ago.
I don't buy the mistype for a second, there are just tooo many safeguards.

They must think us totally dim if we are ready to buy the keystroke scenario.

[Mr. P]

They must think us totally dim if we are ready to buy the keystroke scenario.

Well, Bambam got elected....SOooooooooo..they may have something.

[cat slave]

Well, Bambam got elected....SOooooooooo..they may have something.

Ooof! That was cold!:lol:

But we know!!!!!

[Babel Boy]

I dont know why Israel would want to see us crash and burn unless its the
way BO has treated them and their dignitaries and bowed and scraped to those
who intend to wipe Israel from the earth.

Hmmmmm.....I wouldnt blame them!

Agree. Israel doesn't want US to crash and burn. The only way the Zionists can continue their apartheid/genocide against the Palestinians is with US support.

But the way BO is taking this thing, the Zionists will be de-"nuclarized" and back to the 1967 borders before the 2012 elections. A threat to bring down the stock market might be seen as the best way to get BO off their tail.

Let's watch what happens in the next couple of weeks. If this hypothesis is right, we will see either a sudden about face in US-Israeli relations at the Palestinians' expense or a precipitous disintegration of US-Israeli relations.

By now the Administration knows exactly what happened on May05. Let's see what they do with it. If Israel or some other country was responsible, it would certainly be a serious provocation. Maybe not an act of war, but close.

Somewhere I've seen in the last few months that the Administration is in a panic to hire thousands of geeks to train in cyber-warfare. Let's hope they're not too late.

[Insein]

Agree. Israel doesn't want US to crash and burn. The only way the Zionists can continue their apartheid/genocide against the Palestinians is with US support.

But the way BO is taking this thing, the Zionists will be de-"nuclarized" and back to the 1967 borders before the 2012 elections. A threat to bring down the stock market might be seen as the best way to get BO off their tail.

Let's watch what happens in the next couple of weeks. If this hypothesis is right, we will see either a sudden about face in US-Israeli relations at the Palestinians' expense or a precipitous disintegration of US-Israeli relations.

By now the Administration knows exactly what happened on May05. Let's see what they do with it. If Israel or some other country was responsible, it would certainly be a serious provocation. Maybe not an act of war, but close.

Somewhere I've seen in the last few months that the Administration is in a panic to hire thousands of geeks to train in cyber-warfare. Let's hope they're not too late.

May 6th.

[Mr. P]

I believe I detect a Jew hater.

[chesswarsnow]

Sorry bout that,


1. I tink it was de Mexicans!
2. Cinco De Mayo and all.
3. Anyone else think of it?


Regards,
SirJamesofTexas

[OldMercsRule]

Sorry bout that,

No need fer sorrow Snowman! Don't worry be happy n' all that. :D


1. I tink it was de Mexicans!

Hmmmmmmmmmm........ ya think? :eek:


2. Cinco De Mayo and all.

Seis De Mayo ya mean? :D :D


3. Anyone else think of it?

Prolly not Snowman. Yer in yer own world n' all..... ;)


Regards,
SirJamesofTexas

Respectfully, Murky of Seattle. ;)

[Babel Boy]

I believe I detect a Jew hater.

Sort of. I detest idiot (fundamentalist) Jews, Christians, Muslims.

Idiots in general.

I see the Zionists as nuclear armed idiots and more of a threat to the species than non-nuclear "terrorists." Alan Dershowitz being a prime, American example, although I don't believe he, personally, is nuclear armed.

I'm fine with, and generally enjoy, non-idiot Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Especially the funny ones.

Problem?

[Gaffer]

Sort of. I detest idiot (fundamentalist) Jews, Christians, Muslims.

Idiots in general.

I see the Zionists as nuclear armed idiots and more of a threat to the species than non-nuclear "terrorists." Alan Dershowitz being a prime, American example, although I don't believe he, personally, is nuclear armed.

I'm fine with, and generally enjoy, non-idiot Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Especially the funny ones.

Problem?

You don't even know what a zionist is.

[Babel Boy]

You don't even know what a zionist is.

How is it someone who misspells "Zionist" could have any idea about what others know about it?

I happen to be an expert on the 20th century Zionist movement. Is there something you would like to debate?

[Gaffer]

How is it someone who misspells "Zionist" could have any idea about what others know about it?

I happen to be an expert on the 20th century Zionist movement. Is there something you would like to debate?

Oh I always like experts. Are you related to the sage? z i o n i s t. spell the same way you spell it. just not capitalized. So tell me oh great expert on zionism, what is a zionist? Are you a muzzy here to spread your propaganda or just one of the hate mongers who think jews are responsible for everything. And please do refer me to noahide sites and all the bullshit sites you guys love to frequent.

[Babel Boy]

Gaffer: Are you a muzzy here to spread your propaganda or just one of the hate mongers who think jews are responsible for everything.

You are obviously an old-school Jew-baiter who doesn't have a clue as to the distinctions between Jews and Zionists.

Most of us are not Zionists, and some Zionists are not Jews. Since you don't know how to spell Zionist, don't know what a Zionist is, and don't know the distinction between Judaism and Zionism, anything I have to say would be lost on you. Try Wikipedia.

With your adolescent "Enemy of the State" and fake military logo, and your "done my time in hell" and 2x4 attitude, you sound like a loser vet who spent his 4 years in the mess hall and wants to come across as a battle-hardened warrior.

Good luck.

[Mr. P]

Gaffer: Are you a muzzy here to spread your propaganda or just one of the hate mongers who think jews are responsible for everything.

You are obviously an old-school Jew-baiter who doesn't have a clue as to the distinctions between Jews and Zionists.

Most of us are not Zionists, and some Zionists are not Jews. Since you don't know how to spell Zionist, don't know what a Zionist is, and don't know the distinction between Judaism and Zionism, anything I have to say would be lost on you. Try Wikipedia.

With your adolescent "Enemy of the State" and fake military logo, and your "done my time in hell" and 2x4 attitude, you sound like a loser vet who spent his 4 years in the mess hall and wants to come across as a battle-hardened warrior.

Good luck.

You got nailed right outta the box. Can't even answer the question, some "expert". So you turn to insults. Hey, experts do that all the time, right? Yeah, you'll be another fun MORON.

BTW when did you serve?

[Babel Boy]

Mr. P: BTW when did you serve?

Well, since you asked:

1966-1969. USMC. 2nd Recon Bat., Lejune, then 1st Force Recon, Phu Bai, then US Naval Hosp, Phila, then H&MS 27 Cherry Point. Purple Heart.

Any other questions regarding my bonafides? You're obviously making a huge deal of yours.

[Kathianne]

Weird, from the title I thought the conversation would be on the Dow, instead seems an anti-Semite is at work. Welcome.

So, what makes you an expert on Zionism?

[chesswarsnow]

Sorry bout that,



1. Yeah, I would like to know too?
2. Maybe he is an expert Jew Hater?


Regards,
SirJamesofTexas

[Gaffer]

Mr. P: BTW when did you serve?

Well, since you asked:

1966-1969. USMC. 2nd Recon Bat., Lejune, then 1st Force Recon, Phu Bai, then US Naval Hosp, Phila, then H&MS 27 Cherry Point. Purple Heart.

Any other questions regarding my bonafides? You're obviously making a huge deal of yours.

Another wannabe. Thanks for disrupting the thread. There are a lot of Vets post here, and you ain't one of them.

[Babel Boy]

Gaffer: There are a lot of Vets post here, and you ain't one of them.

Yeah. What you meant to say is that there are a lot of loser vets posting here. And you're one. You whiner Viet vets are nauseating. Get over it.

[Mr. P]

:trolls: