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Computer Glitch Causes Havoc and Losses on Nasdaq

goombah99 writes "In an illustration of how fragile the electronic stock market system is the NY Times is reporting how a tiny computer glitch rippled through the Stock Markets with buyers who bought low and sold high taking huge losses. An erroneous large sell order was entered. Many people bought at this low price, then signed options contracts to sell these at higher prices, locking in a profit. Or so they thought utill the erroneous low sell order was removed. Now to honor their options they had to buy the stock at a higher price. Since exchanges trust each other's trade prices it rippled throughout the system. There does not seem to be any way to gracefully undo such errors."

16 of 324 comments (clear)

  1. One Dollar by wud · · Score: 5, Funny

    I bet we can make the two of them poor, while making the two of us rich.

    --
    wud
  2. Virus by instanto · · Score: 3, Funny

    I wonder how a Virus Attack (Specially Crafted) on Wall STreet would play out.. Could be interesting.

    (Or,maybe they run Norton SystemWorks... )

    --
    // instant - "I for one welcome our new Decaff Coffee-Flavoured-Coffee Overlords"
  3. let's just hope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... that the glitch caused SCOX to fall even more :)

  4. its that pesky Y2.003K bug! by microcars · · Score: 3, Funny

    start stocking up on toilet paper and gold coins!

    --
    I like microcars
    1. Re:its that pesky Y2.003K bug! by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 1, Funny

      Fortunately Y2003K is a long way off.

  5. Do over!!! by El+Cubano · · Score: 5, Funny

    Remeber being a kid and playing some game (like baseball or soccer)? What happened when someone really screwed up? or did something thinking they were allowed? You called "do over!!!"

    That is the solution. On Monday morning, all of the trading managers go out on the floor, and start off the day by yelling "do over!!!" Every trader's account is reset to its pre-Friday state, and everyone is happy. Duh, it's so simple.

  6. undo errors..... by ejaw5 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Lisa: Wow, Dad, you're surfing like a pro!
    Homer: Oh, yeah! I'm betting on Jai-alai in the Cayman Islands, I invested in
    something called "News Corp"--
    Lisa: Dad, that's Fox!
    Homer: [shrieks] Undo! Undo! [hits key, sighs]

    --

    $cat /dev/random > Sig
    1. Re:undo errors..... by Luigi30 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Phone: Welcome to the Dial-a-Stock System. Please say the name of the company you want a stock price for.
      Homer: Animotion.
      Phone: Animotion... up 3/4.
      Homer: Yahoo!
      Phone: Yahoo... up 2.
      Homer: Huh? What is this crap?
      Phone: FOX Broadcasting... down 8.

      --
      503 Sig Unavailable

      The Signature could not be accessed. Please try again later or contact the administrator
  7. Too good to be true by penguinoid · · Score: 2, Funny

    From the FA:
    Some exchange officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they had little sympathy for traders who bought stock at the low prices, and then lost money when they sold the stock before learning that the earlier trade was being canceled. "They should have known that was too good to be true," one said.

    Damn! Gotta check my Linux box for back doors, addware, or some other bug. I should have known it was too good to be true!

    --
    Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
  8. Fools! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Didn't they have a saved game?

  9. The initial cause was ... by RealProgrammer · · Score: 3, Funny
    The problem appears to have begun with an order to sell that was entered into a system that Gr8Trade, a subsidiary of Instinet Group, leases to brokerage firms. The system allows a firm's customers to enter their orders directly into the system, and sends them to markets for execution.

    W3 R Gr8Trades. All U base R belong to us. Nyaaaaa.

    (Anyone entrusting a company named "Gr8Trades" to buy 5000 shares at $40/share should be spanked. $200,000 was theirs, now it's not.)

    --
    sigs, as if you care.
  10. Re:Interesting approach from Clancy by proctorg76 · · Score: 2, Funny

    yeah, it was Debt of Honor. The same one that ended with a disgruntled japanese airline pilot taking out the State of the Union address with his jumbo. Seeing as how the relevance of this text to our modern times can be interpreted so much more easily than the bible can, I move to have it declared the new holy document and Clancy recognized as our lord and saivor.

    --
    Something distinct that people will remember better than my name
  11. Thunderdome by jd_esguerra · · Score: 5, Funny
    start stocking up on toilet paper and gold coins!

    Pffft...Screw that! Start making a list of people who are stocking up on toilet paper and gold coins. This is anarchy baby!

  12. in which case by sunya · · Score: 2, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new pulp fiction overlords

    --
    MLT - simple and robust open source multimedia framework for Linux
  13. Re:Hmm.. by macdaddy357 · · Score: 4, Funny

    After the damage was done, the ticker read,
    "YoUvE bEEn HaxOreD fuXOrS
    Suckee it down!
    wOOt!"

    --
    How ya like dat?
  14. This happened to my friend on eBay... by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 2, Funny

    He saw an ad for really cheap DVDs at some discount web site. So he ordered a bunch of copies and then sold them on eBay. Only problem is he didn't wait until the DVDs actually arrived before he sold them, and it turned out they were out of stock, and the order was cancelled. So he had to buy the DVDs at a higher price somewhere else in order to fulfill his eBay sales. Oops.