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CNBC Software Flaw Worth $1 Million?

Strudelkugel writes "BusinessWeek tells the story of one obsessive fan who unraveled a software glitch worth one million dollars. Jim Kraber was a regular CNBC viewer, and when the opportunity arose he took the 'Million Dollar Portfolio Challenge' very seriously. At one point, he was spending 12 hours a day on the contest, using three computers to trade 1,600 different portfolios in a theoretical stock game. His efforts got him into the top 20 finalists, but in the last round of trading he noticed some unusual patterns. 'One trader had a stream of near-perfect picks, consistently placing huge bets on shares that soared in after-hours trading. Kraber suspected the trader and perhaps others were getting help from someone who was changing their picks after the stocks' increases — and he quickly notified CNBC ... Kraber says CNBC rebuffed him at the time, but now it looks like he may have been right.'"

3 of 151 comments (clear)

  1. How says cheaters never prosper? by HangingChad · · Score: 0, Troll

    Looked like it worked pretty well for the top players. Some of them may have collected 10K for the top slot on a particular week and almost ended up with a cool million. Save for the efforts of a few heads up players they might have gotten away with it.

    It's also worked pretty well for the Republicans.

    That doesn't make it right, but it's hard to argue with success.

    --
    That's our life, the big wheel of shit. - The Fat Man, Blue Tango Salvage
  2. Re:Stick to poker -- fewer variables... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    You don't see the difference between abusing the game within the rules and down right cheating by exploiting a bug?
    Damn that's sad...
    You're probably the same type of little shit that cheats in video games because you can't pull off or think up any of the tricks the pros use.
    Whether you think it's fair or not the guy managing 1600 profiles was within the rules set by the game the people executing trades after the prices were posted were not. Just because you were out classed doesn't give you an excuse to cheat.

  3. o'really by thisisnothere · · Score: 0, Troll

    hot pics of Maria Bartiromo or it didn't happen