follow-up: computers, not human error, likely caused market meltdown
Computerized sell programs triggered by global events—rather than trader error or “fat finger”—appear to have caused Thursday’s unprecedented market swing, according market pros who are reconstructing the nearly 1,000-point stock selloff.
These experts think the intensely accelerated electronic trading was sparked by the Greek debt crisis and other events and not a trader who typed a “b” for billion instead of “m” for million in executing a trade on Thursday.
Friday’s market volatility seemed only to confirm that investors are afraid of what lies ahead and are wary of the stock market.
“It wasn’t a fat finger,” said Dave Lutz, managing director of trading at Stifel Nicolaus in Baltimore. “The markets became unglued…Most of it was centered on the fact that currency markets affected the equity markets.”
source: CNBC – Human error losing ground as market meltdown cause
