Apple Stock Trading Halted Briefly on Sudden 9% Drop

MacRumors · Mar 23, 2012, 10:24 AM

BusinessInsider reports some strange activity on Apple's stock today. Trading was halted due to an abrupt drop of over 9%.

Quote:

The stock crashed 9% to $542.80 before trading was stopped. When the stock started trading again, it opened at $598.39

Trading has since resumed, but there has been no clarification on what happened. StreetInsider speculates that it was "an apparent errant trade".

Image of drop from WSJ

With news of the dividend and record iPad sales, Apple's stock has been at all time highs in the past week.

Update: Bloomberg pinpoints the issue to a single trade for 100 shares executed by Bats Global Markets Inc.

Quote:

A single trade for 100 shares executed on a Bats venue briefly sent Apple, the world's most valuable company, down to $542.80, triggering a circuit breaker that paused the shares. The order was executed at 10:57 a.m. New York time. Two more transactions, which sent the stock back above $598, were made before the halt. The stock stayed around that level once trading resumed.

Article Link: Apple Stock Trading Halted Briefly on Sudden 9% Drop

zzLZHzz · Mar 23, 2012, 10:26 AM

must have scare the hell out of people even though most people think it is not possible

Verita · Mar 23, 2012, 10:26 AM

buy buy buy! Too bad it was an error and didn't trigger my limit call.

Xenomorph · Mar 23, 2012, 10:27 AM

Apple tried using Bitcoins, apparently.

FloatingBones · Mar 23, 2012, 10:27 AM

It was that Samsung VP of Design doing something "creative".

DotCom2 · Mar 23, 2012, 10:27 AM

THAT scared the heck outta me!

ryanmcv · Mar 23, 2012, 10:29 AM

Someone, somewhere just had a mild heart attack.

basesloaded190 · Mar 23, 2012, 10:30 AM

Fat fingers again?

EricBlue · Mar 23, 2012, 10:30 AM

Yet another trading robot gone bananas.

michaywood · Mar 23, 2012, 10:31 AM

man! I thought the Great Depression was about to happen again!

SELL SELL SELL!!!!

rdowns · Mar 23, 2012, 10:32 AM

Wow, I would have been really pissed if my stop loss order kicked in over an error.

Goes to change stop loss order.

Pos7al · Mar 23, 2012, 10:32 AM

"A single trade for 100 shares executed on a Bats Global Markets Inc. venue briefly sent Apple Inc. (AAPL) down to $542.80, triggering a circuit breaker that paused the shares for five minutes.

The order was executed at 10:57 a.m. New York time. Two more transactions, which sent the stock back above $598, were made before the curb halted trading. "

HAHAHA, poor guy probably pooped himself after he saw the purchase/drop.

Floris · Mar 23, 2012, 10:33 AM

Sorry.. MY BAD..

Lesser Evets · Mar 23, 2012, 10:33 AM

...well... my lack of faith in the stock market has once again been reinforced. All gamblers will play those dangerous games while the slow and steady gets you there without pain or worry.

SeanMcg · Mar 23, 2012, 10:34 AM

From the article

Quote:

The crash is being blamed on the BATS exchange, which is an electronic trading network that allows traders to trade stocks outside of the major stock exchanges.Oddly enough, BATS just IPO'd today and its stock is suffering from its own flash crash right now.

I wonder if they used their own network to trade on their IPO.
But what do I know; I think "Wall Street" is an oxymoron

[EDIT](NOTE:the original linked article has been changed since this was first posted.)

Hakone · Mar 23, 2012, 10:37 AM

The trade hamster fell off the wheel.

Rocko1 · Mar 23, 2012, 10:39 AM

House of cards.....

Rocketman · 11:15 AM

Bloomberg reports it was an erroneous trade for 100 shares done on the BATS network. That pin (downward spike) was similar to one the morning of 3-30-12 9:30 am to 582.00. These errant trades are often caused by large block sales which mostly liquidate around the prevailing price where there are lots of buyers and sellers at any moment, but if the block size exceeds momentary supply the market maker lowers the price until standing orders soak up the remainder of the order. This typically only happens with market orders, not limit orders.

There is also a trading tactic used by flash traders to intentionally manipulate the price with large block trades to get a better entry price for position trades.

This reminds me of the flash crash where Apple stock momentarily traded for over $10,000 a couple of months ago.

It's cool to watch real time on a terminal because it dwarfs all the other price action of the month and is instantly visually dominant.

Had the trade had any legs at all I would have made a bunch on the trade.

The event was momentary and the stock was only halted around 3 minutes.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...-rebounds.html

BATS is their symbol on today's IPO but it is also the symbol for British American Tobacco plc, http://www.google.com/finance?q=LON%3ABATS

Rocketman

locust76 · Mar 23, 2012, 10:39 AM

Apple's stock beachballed for a second.

M1chbeck · Mar 23, 2012, 10:39 AM

stock trader is probably the most unnecessary profession in the world.

Become a farmer, grow food.
Become a construction worker, build something.
The world would be a better place for sure.

Nova Sensei · Mar 23, 2012, 10:40 AM

Ha, the entire Australian stock exchange has been completely manipulated for years and nobody even bats an eyelid.... What a corrupt world we live in.

Small White Car · Mar 23, 2012, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lesser Evets

...well... my lack of faith in the stock market has once again been reinforced. All gamblers will play those dangerous games while the slow and steady gets you there without pain or worry.

What? The system found a problem and fixed it before it caused damage. What part of this reinforced your lack of faith? Are you reading a different article?

JCaternolo · Mar 23, 2012, 10:42 AM

In all honesty, who cares? Stocks ALWAYS with out fail, will fall. Nine times out of ten they recoup better than before. So what if Apple's stocks fell 9% tomorrow it'll be up 10 - 15%. It's not the end of the world if Apple loses money, they have more than anyone else. Your time would be much better spent helping some random person in your neighborhood than fretting about the stock market, that's real investing.

bbeagle · Mar 23, 2012, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCaternolo

In all honesty, who cares? Stocks ALWAYS with out fail, will fall. Nine times out of ten they recoup better than before. So what if Apple's stocks fell 9% tomorrow it'll be up 10 - 15%. It's not the end of the world if Apple loses money, they have more than anyone else. Your time would be much better spent helping some random person in your neighborhood than fretting about the stock market, that's real investing.

The stock market does not gain or lose Apple money. It actually gains or loses money for some random person in your neighborhood (who owns Apple stock).

Very simply explained (I know there are more details, but this is it in a nutshell): Apple put all it's shares up on the market in 1980 at $14/share. It uses the shares it didn't sell for employee compensation. The more the shares go up, the more likely Apple is to retain employees, as the employees benefit. Apple's bottom line, as a company, does not benefit on shares going above it's initial share price. Apple would have the same amount of money in it's coffers if the stock nose-dived to $0 tomorrow.

Darth.Titan · Mar 23, 2012, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JCaternolo

In all honesty, who cares? Stocks ALWAYS with out fail, will fall. Nine times out of ten they recoup better than before. So what if Apple's stocks fell 9% tomorrow it'll be up 10 - 15%. It's not the end of the world if Apple loses money, they have more than anyone else. Your time would be much better spent helping some random person in your neighborhood than fretting about the stock market, that's real investing.

You didn't even read the article did you?

BTW, a sudden 9% drop in a stock valued at nearly $600 a share is not in any way normal.

Mar 23, 2012, 10:26 AM	#3
Verita macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Atlanta	buy buy buy! Too bad it was an error and didn't trigger my limit call. __________________ Veritas vos liberabit - John 8:32
	1

Mar 23, 2012, 10:27 AM	#6
DotCom2 macrumors 65816 Join Date: Feb 2009	THAT scared the heck outta me!
	-6

Mar 23, 2012, 10:29 AM	#7
ryanmcv macrumors 6502 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Phoenix, AZ	Someone, somewhere just had a mild heart attack. __________________ MacBook Pro 15", 2GHz Intel i7 (Early 2011) iPhone 5 64GB Black iPad Wi-Fi 16GB
	17

Mar 23, 2012, 10:30 AM	#8
basesloaded190 macrumors 68030 Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Wisconsin	Fat fingers again? __________________ 2011 MacBook Pro 15 HR Anti-Glare, Etymotic ER-4p, iPhone 4 32GB Twitter
	4

Mar 23, 2012, 10:32 AM	#11
rdowns macrumors Penryn Join Date: Jul 2003	Wow, I would have been really pissed if my stop loss order kicked in over an error. Goes to change stop loss order. __________________ 44% of Republicans think an ARMED REBELLION might be necessary in the next few years. So if you say most Reps are nuts, you'd be off by 7%. - Bill Maher
	7

Mar 23, 2012, 10:26 AM	#2
zzLZHzz macrumors regular Join Date: Mar 2012	must have scare the hell out of people even though most people think it is not possible
	7

Mar 23, 2012, 10:27 AM	#4
Xenomorph macrumors 6502a Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: St. Louis	Apple tried using Bitcoins, apparently.
	10

Mar 23, 2012, 10:27 AM	#5
FloatingBones macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jul 2006	It was that Samsung VP of Design doing something "creative".
	24

Mar 23, 2012, 10:30 AM	#9
EricBlue macrumors newbie Join Date: Mar 2012	Yet another trading robot gone bananas.
	14

Mar 23, 2012, 10:31 AM	#10
michaywood macrumors newbie Join Date: Feb 2011	man! I thought the Great Depression was about to happen again! SELL SELL SELL!!!!
	0

Mar 23, 2012, 10:32 AM	#12
Pos7al macrumors member Join Date: Sep 2009	It was because of Bats "A single trade for 100 shares executed on a Bats Global Markets Inc. venue briefly sent Apple Inc. (AAPL) down to $542.80, triggering a circuit breaker that paused the shares for five minutes. The order was executed at 10:57 a.m. New York time. Two more transactions, which sent the stock back above $598, were made before the curb halted trading. " HAHAHA, poor guy probably pooped himself after he saw the purchase/drop.
	0

Mar 23, 2012, 10:33 AM	#13
Floris macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Netherlands	Sorry.. MY BAD.. __________________ (05) 15" Powerbook 1,67ghz, 2gb, 80gb / (09) 24" iMac, 2,66ghz, 4gb, 640gb / (06) 2x 20" MacPro 1,1, 2 dc xeon 2,66 (4cores), 6gb, 7tb, (10) iPhone4 16gb, black (11) iPad2, white, 16gb, 3g
	6

Mar 23, 2012, 10:33 AM	#14
Lesser Evets macrumors 68030 Join Date: Jan 2006	...well... my lack of faith in the stock market has once again been reinforced. All gamblers will play those dangerous games while the slow and steady gets you there without pain or worry. __________________ 2x1.86 BSEL Pro 1,1; 5770; 16GB RAM; 1•3TB/2•1TB/2•2TB SATA; 128GB Startup SSD; 30" & 20" C.Displays; OSX 10.7.5; Sound Sticks; 1TB TimeMach
	-1

Mar 23, 2012, 10:37 AM	#16
Hakone macrumors 6502 Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Southern California	The trade hamster fell off the wheel.
	13

Mar 23, 2012, 10:39 AM	#17
Rocko1 macrumors 65816 Join Date: Nov 2011	House of cards.....
	4

Mar 23, 2012, 10:39 AM	#18
Rocketman macrumors 601 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Claremont, CA	Bloomberg reports it was an erroneous trade for 100 shares done on the BATS network. That pin (downward spike) was similar to one the morning of 3-30-12 9:30 am to 582.00. These errant trades are often caused by large block sales which mostly liquidate around the prevailing price where there are lots of buyers and sellers at any moment, but if the block size exceeds momentary supply the market maker lowers the price until standing orders soak up the remainder of the order. This typically only happens with market orders, not limit orders. There is also a trading tactic used by flash traders to intentionally manipulate the price with large block trades to get a better entry price for position trades. This reminds me of the flash crash where Apple stock momentarily traded for over $10,000 a couple of months ago. It's cool to watch real time on a terminal because it dwarfs all the other price action of the month and is instantly visually dominant. Had the trade had any legs at all I would have made a bunch on the trade. The event was momentary and the stock was only halted around 3 minutes. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-0...-rebounds.html BATS is their symbol on today's IPO but it is also the symbol for British American Tobacco plc, http://www.google.com/finance?q=LON%3ABATS Rocketman __________________ Think Different-ly! The President campaigned against Congress. D Sen is led by D Sen ML Reid and D VP and Sen Pres Biden, under orders of D Pres Obama. http://www.gop.gov/indepth/jobs/tracker Last edited by Rocketman; Mar 23, 2012 at 11:15 AM.
	4

Mar 23, 2012, 10:39 AM	#19
locust76 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2009	Apple's stock beachballed for a second.
	37

Mar 23, 2012, 10:39 AM	#20
M1chbeck macrumors newbie Join Date: Dec 2011	stock trader is probably the most unnecessary profession in the world. Become a farmer, grow food. Become a construction worker, build something. The world would be a better place for sure.
	13

Mar 23, 2012, 10:40 AM	#21
Nova Sensei macrumors regular Join Date: Feb 2012	Ha, the entire Australian stock exchange has been completely manipulated for years and nobody even bats an eyelid.... What a corrupt world we live in.
	6

Mar 23, 2012, 10:42 AM	#23
JCaternolo macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2011	In all honesty, who cares? Stocks ALWAYS with out fail, will fall. Nine times out of ten they recoup better than before. So what if Apple's stocks fell 9% tomorrow it'll be up 10 - 15%. It's not the end of the world if Apple loses money, they have more than anyone else. Your time would be much better spent helping some random person in your neighborhood than fretting about the stock market, that's real investing.
	-6

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