07
Mai
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.
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.