The Dow: 1000 point drop in 15 minutes?

[SoonerCoug]

Glad I don't have any money in the market, although I probably would have stocks if I had money. Is Greece really that big of a deal? I admit that I know practically nothing about financial stuff other than counting my own money.

[RobinFinderson]

[Indy Coug]

Greece is a domino.

[RobinFinderson]

The NYT image is pretty cool. It updates with refresh.

[byu71]

Greece has been a known quantity for months and the market has been going up. What happened today that is so special? Anyone, anyone?

That's all you will hear is Greece, horse shit. Anyone remember when the whole south american contintent was in default and what eventually happened to the market. Didn't think so.

This is the correction that needed to happen. Could it get worse, possibly. Odds are today is a result of some "speculative hedge fund" losing their ass and forced to liquidate. Note I said specualtive. I am not talking about Viking here.

You will also find there were computer gliches and it wasn't really down as much as it looked.

However, the psyche will be damaged over this and it will take a while to base. That is my opinion. Another guy walked in the office and said he thinks we go straight back up in a week. Another guy came in and said, "we are f'ed." This is what makes it fun and challenging.

[Blueintheface]

Greece is a domino.

Life is a Highway.

[scottie]

Odds are today is a result of some "speculative hedge fund" losing their ass and forced to liquidate.

71, I'm a novice so be patient with me. When you say hedge fund losing their ass, I've always assumed "hedge fund" implies one heavily involved in short selling, and that a "short squeeze" is when the hedge funds are running for cover causing the respective stocks to spike up/green. Am I even close? If so, how does a dive in the Dow represent hedge funds losing their asses?

[I.J. Reilly]

Looks like a glitch somewhere that was showing P&G down heavily that sent everything into the 1000 point dive. Stupid computers.

[byu71]

71, I'm a novice so be patient with me. When you say hedge fund losing their ass, I've always assumed "hedge fund" implies one heavily involved in short selling, and that a "short squeeze" is when the hedge funds are running for cover causing the respective stocks to spike up/green. Am I even close? If so, how does a dive in the Dow represent hedge funds losing their asses?

You know what, I am not as smart on the subject as I sometimes present myself. Hedge fund has become such an all inclusive term. Folks that actually hedge, buy by investing in what we could call non correlating assets.

Hedge funds don't always short, but where you may get that idea is because they can. Most can go where they want when they want. Your typical old mutual fund can only go long. I personally think shorting is bull shit, but that is not what I get upset about. Those guys can win as well as lose and I don't think they move markets down anymore than the longs move them up.

The one's I think ought to be run out of town on a rail are the ones the leverage up the fanny. They then think they are so smart they can hedge the market, against the yen vs the ruble or some other ungodgly mathematical formula based on the past. We always tell clients when we give them past numbers, "the past returns don't guarantee future returns.

Ok, there little formula screws up. The market is light volume. They have to sell, but not a billion that is there's they have to also the ten billion they borrowed. They become the market. Now some other guys may get sell orders triggered and an unwinding starts and plummets.

OK, your average guy watches the news and he hears, Greece is falling greece is falling. Or he hears, down 1,000, it is over. More often than not a big sell took place into an illiquid market.

Hopefully we now stall for a while.

What is somewhat funny though is that today I hear the problem was when the market was down 3-400 points some idiot entered an order to sell a billion shares instead of a million. Of course the market slid and then the stop loss orders starting hitting.

Watching the TV and news stuff claiming a 1,000 drop was due to Greece was laughable.

[PaloAltoCougar]

This story says the drop was due to a typing error by a trader at a major house. If a typo by one individual can cause the instant, if paper, loss of hundreds of billions of dollars, the system may need some refining. Be assured the SEC will be looking into who may have gained by reason of this typo, assuming they can get someone at the SEC to stop looking at his home page of Barely Legal.

[DU Ute]

This story says the drop was due to a typing error by a trader at a major house. If a typo by one individual can cause the instant, if paper, loss of hundreds of billions of dollars, the system may need some refining. Be assured the SEC will be looking into who may have gained by reason of this typo, assuming they can get someone at the SEC to stop looking at his home page of Barely Legal.

Million? Billion?

[RobinFinderson]

Million? Billion?

Exactly. That is THREE zeros of difference. Look at them:

1,000,000
1,000,000,000

A 'typo' could be ONE extra zero (10 million), but THREE??

There is a Dr. Evil out there somewhere.

[SteelBlue]

Doesn't this error seem a bit too easy? Can we get a "are you sure you meant billion" query built into the computer system?

[creekster]

Exactly. That is THREE zeros of difference. Look at them:

1,000,000
1,000,000,000

A 'typo' could be ONE extra zero (10 million), but THREE??

Those are, or course, numbers. The article linked specifically refers to letters. The difference between One Billion and One Million or even 1M and 1B is not so great or apparent.

[RobinFinderson]

Those are, or course, numbers. The article linked specifically refers to letters. The difference between One Billion and One Million or even 1M and 1B is not so great or apparent.

When you type in an order, don't you punch in the numbers?