Wild ride on Wall Street

[cgallery]

Dow down apparently 1000 points just a while ago. Clawing back now. Wow!

The news reports indicate it is related to Greece. I'm not so certain. Those kinds of swings would seem to be the result of battling computers performing trades.

The next few days are going to be interesting. This kind of volatility fascinates me.

[Alex Franke]

No kidding! just saw that

I tend to agree about the computers -- seems like maybe a bunch of sell triggers, then a bunch of buy triggers. It went "boing" in the space of 30 min or so I think.

[crokett]

Computers deciding when to trade was a major plot point in one of Tom Clancy's books.

[Kavoom]

I thought you were kidding. I was just looking at that about two hours ago and just a little drop and then wow. See what happens when computer algorithyms start to cascade... Did it trigger the brakes on the machines?

I put my high risk back into a gauranteed fund March 31st and thought I'd ride out the summer safe... I also did that back Dec 31st 2007. I could have waited another six months, but that bubble was straining at the seams and cracks were already appearing... My March move wasn't even based on Europe but on China bubbling up real estate, not buying commodities, and getting cranky with US.

The world economy is still very fragile, very...and could still break... OK, back to work for at least one more paycheck...

[cgallery]

Did it trigger the brakes on the machines?

To the best of my knowledge, no circuit breakers were tripped.

The breakers are set to 10, 20, and 30% of the market at the beginning of the quarter. Which means we were probably real close to that 10% breaker.

[cgallery]

No kidding! just saw that

I tend to agree about the computers -- seems like maybe a bunch of sell triggers, then a bunch of buy triggers. It went "boing" in the space of 30 min or so I think.

The NYSE says they didn't have any computer glitches, but apparently at least one stock (Accenture) went from $40 to $.04 in a split second, and then recovered the next.

According to NPR, CNBC is reporting that a trader entered "B" for billion rather than "M" for million (of shares). Although it kinda sounded like that may have been conjecture.

I don't think any of those explanations make sense in the real-world. There was a very broad, very fast (twenty minutes) drop.

Some are saying it is the "high frequency" computer trading.

Could have been a combination of things.

[Alex Franke]

The NYSE says they didn't have any computer glitches, but apparently at least one stock (Accenture) went from $40 to $.04 in a split second, and then recovered the next.

It'll be interesting to see how this pans out. Barrons says PG and 3M tripped the circuit breakers (I thought there were on DJIA, not individual stocks), and CNN is reporting:

There may have been technical glitches which caused it to plunge 37% in minutes. P&G's slump was responsible for 172 points of the 992.60 the Dow initially lost.

[herb fellows]

I'm sure my heart will start beating normally again soon....right?!

[cgallery]

I'm sure my heart will start beating normally again soon....right?!

Consider that for a short while today, you could purchase Philip Morris for $2 a share (a 96% drop in 30 minutes).

While some of the trades are being cancelled, there was plenty of opportunity to make a small fortune. Here:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...-update2-.html


HERE IS MY QUESTION...

If people were purchasing shares at $2 each, someone was selling them, too. The volume today was very high. There were trades at these prices.

So if we find the outfit selling Philip Morris shares for $2 each, won't we know who screwed-up on entering erroneous data on a trading computer?

Some people are pointing a finger at Citigroup. So far they deny it. While the exchanges haven't cancelled all the trades, I wonder if that won't be necessary if this was in error. It could put an outfit like Citigroup under.

[master53yoda]

This is a copy of an email i sent out this morning to some of the people that communicate with about the market.

"Yesterday got everyone's attention but the bulls are saying it was a glitch. What I think happened is that it went down through a group of gaps that got set on the way up, and triggered a bunch of stops. It didn't actually make it to the bottom of the last move. in Feb.

I wiped my count from 4/15 and did a recount and it closed last night within .10 of where my minute (iii) level was on the old count and is on the new count. It leveled off at that point and I think it will rise up to about where the dive started yesterday and bounce back and forth for a 4th wave. this 4th could last 2 to 5 days before the bear comes back and drops the price to about 60 to 75% of the way to yesterdays bottom. This will be Minute level (i) and the bulls will bring it back up close to where we were on the 5/4 for a Minute level (ii) We would then start a new down trend that would end about where we were in March last year. That would be a minute (iii). it is a little early to be sure about the wave range whether it is minute or minor but that will resolve at the next swing down.

Yesterday triggered my short close stop part way back up on a .30 cent trailing stop. Even with the delay because of the mass volume on the exchanges, a very profitable move thanks to Elliot wave analysis. Short entry of QQQQ at 50.10 close at 42.93 I did not reenter long because of the need to do a recount. I will progress today if my count above proves out which it does seem to be doing looking at the off hours trading."

[jackellis]

I was sitting in a meeting with about 30 or 40 people yesterday. Most of us had our laptops running and many (including me) where periodically checking on the action.

I think it'll drop a bit more. If it drops a lot more, I will be waiting. Remember, the time to buy is when blood is running in the streets

The Dow is not the real story right now. Greece is.

[Hoover]

I think it'll drop a bit more. If it drops a lot more, I will be waiting. Remember, the time to buy is when blood is running in the streets

The Dow is not the real story right now. Greece is.

Investing is not for sissies. "The sky is falling, the sky is falling" mantra has been used for years. You are correct the time to buy is when blood is running in the streets. During the fall yesterday, one of my stock buys filled. I don't believe in chasing after a stock. Hang on, the ride is going to be bumpy for a while.

[master53yoda]

What has transpired this morning modifies my count. Yesterday appears to not have been a glitch, I think that is why it didn't trip any breakers in the system.

Yesterday would have been (v) subminuette in the (i) and the ABC correction to the (ii) Minuette level. This morning has seen (i) and (ii) of the subminuette level and we are starting the (iii) down with the projected bottom of the (iii) Minuette to be 39.60 on QQQQ (Nasdaq 100)

I re-entered my short that was closed yesterday.

information only.

I'll post charts over the weekend in my profile page.