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Dow Jones Plunge Fueled by Overwhelmed Computers

cloudscout writes "The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 400 points today. While there were various valid financial reasons for such a decline, some of the blame is being placed on computer systems that couldn't keep up with the abnormally high volume at the New York Stock Exchange and the resulting tremor as they switched over to a backup system."

13 of 215 comments (clear)

  1. NYSE: Microsoft (R) powered (R) by hxnwix · · Score: 5, Funny

    It looks like somebody forgot to change the gigantic SQL batteries embedded in the side of the NYSE building...

  2. This is why... by tomstdenis · · Score: 3, Funny

    I spend a lot more than I save :-)

    The Dow may go down, but a pizza is still as tasty hehehehe.

    I wonder how much of this load is due to low volume day trader movement?

    Tom

    --
    Someday, I'll have a real sig.
  3. See... by ZonkerWilliam · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is what happens when I sell one lousy share of google!

  4. Re:Ok... by BanjoBob · · Score: 2, Funny

    I thought they were still on Windows Server 2003 running MS SQL Server.

    Now, had they been running Linux and MySQL on an IBM monster box things would have probably been different

    --
    Banjo - The more I know about Windoze, the more I love *nix
  5. Re:Chaos theory, anyone? by Nykon · · Score: 2, Funny

    A butterfly flaps it's wings in Asia , and the dow drop 400 points in the US... brilliant.

    Your Nobel Prize is in the mail. Don't call us. We'll cal you.

    --
    "It's better to be a pirate then join the Navy"
  6. Re:Blaming? by stevesliva · · Score: 2, Funny

    Computers never make errors.
    Sure they do... just need to bombard them with alpha particles.
    --
    Who do you get to be an expert to tell you something's not obvious? The least insightful person you can find? -J Roberts
  7. Re:Chaos theory, anyone? by pzs · · Score: 3, Funny

    > A butterfly flaps it's wings in Asia , and the dow drop 400 points in the US... brilliant.

    Of course, the usual moron response to this is to say "why don't we just kill all the butterflies in Asia?"

    Peter

  8. Hal? HAL!!! by Malakusen · · Score: 3, Funny

    Let me put it this way, Mr Amer. The 9000 series is the most reliable computer ever made. No 9000 computer has ever made a mistake or distorted information. We are all, by any practical definition of the words, foolproof and incapable of error.

    --
    Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to conviction
  9. Re:Chaos theory, anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Bacon!

  10. Re:It's voodoo by D-Fens · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's an entirely different kind of computing.

  11. Oblig Futurama quote by Cervantes · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dr. Zoidberg: Once again, the conservative, sandwich-heavy portfolio pays off for the hungry investor!

    --
    If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
  12. Re:It's voodoo by Ctrl-Z · · Score: 2, Funny


    It's an entirely different kind of computing.

    --
    www.timcoleman.com is a total waste of your time. Never go there.
  13. Which computer and OS are at fault? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    What is the brand of the computer that malfunctioned in calculating the Dow Jones index? Also, what operating system was the offending computer running?

    I hope that the answer is not "Linux on top of HP hardware."