“Apple shares, which had climbed nearly 80 points to more than $270 in the three months since Steve Jobs introduced the iPad, briefly lost it all in Thursday’s wild trading,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune.
“In the space of 20 minutes, between 2:35 and 2:55 p.m. EDT, it plummeted from nearly $248 a share to $199.25, before bouncing back at high volume to where it started,” Elmer-DeWitt reports.
Elmer-DeWitt reports, “Apple, which closed Wednesday at $255.99, ended Thursday at $246.25, down $9.74 (3.8%) for the day.”
Full article, in which P.E.D. reports other stock charts also traced similar canyons, here.
TheStreet reports on what their professionals in RealMoney Columnist Conversation were saying during the massive selloff Thursday afternoon. Some snippets:
• Scott Rothbort: This will be like Casablanca. The Congress will round up the usual suspects — like Goldman Sachs.
• Alan Farley: It looked like the market-making system itself failed today. That’s a major subset of the algorithms. For once, I agree with Scott, this selloff was NOT kosher. Even in 2007 and 2008, the “orderliness” was light years ahead of what we just witnessed.
• Rev Shark: So when does the congressional hearing on computerized trading begin? That was just a breathtaking move, and there is no way that the action was not accelerated, or even created by program trading. This is the sort of stuff that has kept the individual investor out of this market during the rally over the past year. They were killed in 2008 and never regained any trust, and now we have this glaring example of machine manipulation to make sure they never do come back.
Full article here.
CNBC reports, “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.”
“According to multiple sources, a trader entered a ‘b’ for billion instead of an ‘m’ for million in a trade possibly involving Procter & Gamble, a component in the Dow,” CNBC reports. “(CNBC’s Jim Cramer noted suspicious price movement in P&G stock on air during the height of the market selloff.)”
“Sources tell CNBC the firm in question that handled the erroneous trade is Citigroup,” CNBC reports. “The bank said it has no evidence of a bad trade but is investigating the situation.”
CNBC reports, “The massive selloff, which began shortly after 2 pm ET, amplified concerns about the spreading European debt crisis as the approval of austerity measures by the Greek Parliament sparked renewed rioting in Athens. ‘There is simply a growing recognition that Greece has got to default,’ banking analyst Dick Bove told CNBC.com. ‘The riots in the streets showed the decision to repay the debt was not going to be made by the people in Germany, France and Switzerland—it’s going to be made by people in Greece and they’re not going to repay it.'”
CNBC reports, “There also is a growing sense that any collapse of Greece could trigger a wave of defaults across Europe and even the world.”
CNBC reports, “Greece passed a bill in its Parliament after heated debate that calls for unpopular cuts in public spending in pensions and other areas, as well as tax increases. Greece needed to approve the austerity measures to be eligible to receive a $141.9 billion aid package from the International Monetary Fund and the 15 other countries that use the euro.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Anybody pick up any fruit (or automatically drop it) during the fire sale?
It wasn’t just AAPL. The same thing happened to the entire market, so the headline is a bit misleading. The dangers of computer-initiated trading…
I sure wish I could have somehow bought at $200. Perhaps I should have some crazy standing buy orders on the system, like buy AAPL below $200, in case something like this happens again. Then again, it might really keep going down the next time, so maybe not.
Anyone who sold in panic at $200 must be REALLY ticked off. I’m glad I was unaware of this movement happening, until it had already recovered.
I believe at one time I was done close to $200,000.
I was watching the market and I was totally stunned.
This may be the beginning of a new wave of extreme volatility in the markets. No matter how great a company’s products are, if consumers are spooked, “down” will be the new buzz word. Add defaulting countries to the mix and there’s no telling how bizarre this will get.
In a bigger sense, there’s way to much manipulation going on in the markets. Unfortunately for small investors, the SEC is clueless about understanding it, or actually doing something about it.
Charts for today are incorrect. Very likely an error…, human originated error that is, again.
> Anybody pick up any fruit (or automatically drop it) during the fire sale?
I had limit orders set to buy on the dips, and picked up 185 bargain shares, some below $200.
YOU BOUGHT
APPLE INC AAPL 40 $240.0000 USD
YOU BOUGHT
APPLE INC AAPL 20 $239.1500 USD
YOU BOUGHT
APPLE INC AAPL 25 $221.7500 USD
YOU BOUGHT
APPLE INC AAPL 20 $219.3700 USD
YOU BOUGHT
APPLE INC AAPL 20 $214.7800 USD
YOU BOUGHT
APPLE INC AAPL 20 $210.0000 USD
YOU BOUGHT
APPLE INC AAPL 20 $204.3900 USD
YOU BOUGHT
APPLE INC AAPL 20 $199.5000 USD
@Johnsson
re: @First 2010, then 2012
“The problem is national debt, not internal socioeconomic policies, care to discuss how to bring down the US national debt without riots???”
Socioeconomic policies, the haves and the have nots, the spread the wealth, the skin in the game, the everybody needs to pay their fair share, the economical class warfare divisiveness of this administration is what will bring on riots! Notice how Wall Street and Goldmann Sachs were villainized? I wonder if that went on in Greece too. You notice in Greece it is the Unions striking and whining about cuts (guess they don’t want to contribute their fair share) and it left three people dead in a torched Athens bank! BANK!! Wonder if Obama got’ em all fired up with his vitriol hate speech? And you just thought it was right wing talk radio and right wing militias to be worried about!
Anyway, regarding bringing down the debt, bring back Reagan’s playbook that the left always likes to malign as tired and old… yeah, and tell me again how the left’s tired, old playbook is doing for the country right now? Ooh, raise taxes! Look! More money to spend! We’ll count it twice and spend it three ways! Rah! Rah! Rah! Let’s all cheer for that political playbook! There are not enough “rich” out there to do anything to these astronomical debts and deficits! Time to lie about that no new taxes pledge on those making 250,000 or less, Mr. Obama!
So, lower taxes on those that create the jobs and those that buy the big ticket items instead of villainizing them. Create the demand for increased labor. Put the people back to work increasing the tax base. Thereby increasing the tax revenues. Don’t spend, but pay down debt. Then cut the number of Senators from 100 to 50, one for each state and enlarge districts so that the House is represented by under 300 down from 435. You just decreased the Federal Payroll by almost 200 politicians not to mention support staff, reduced health care costs, other perks and benefits and retirement. Then shorten legislative calendar and salary so that they need to get jobs other than politicians living off the tit of the American people. Also apply Term Limits and no retirement benefits to politicians. That’ll get them out of there. And make it so they cannot be Lobbiest. Get them out of Washington! And with nearly 200 assholes gone (Republican, Democrat, Independent) there is less of them to screw up the country more than they already have. Finally campaigns should be narrowed down to a six month time frame! None of this two year crap when your time is up. How many millions are raised to just run for your party’s position and then even more millions when running in the general election! Apply those excess millions to the debt.
Get out of the IMF, the UN, and other worthless organizations and bill countries where our military is based instead of paying them to be based there. If the countries don’t want to pay then we’ll leave and let them increase their military budget to ensure their security and issue entitlement cost cuts to pay for it. Their people will just love them for that.
Then get a blue ribbon panel, because we all know that political leaders like to do their own job and face the consequences of their actions – end sarcasm. Fine. Have the Blue Ribbon panel say: “Put a 5 year, possibly ten year freeze on entitlement increases and a law that nixes entitlement programs over the years while continuing to support those too far gone regarding work age and let them have the benefits but start educating the young in school, college and PSA’s and create a program to ensure they are on target for life without government entitlements and handouts. Because it is entitlements that got us in the state we are in. Enough is enough, it is just not affordable. Nor is it the responsibility of the Federal Government? It’s ‘We the People…’, not ‘Thanks to the Government, We the People…’. Time to bring back self reliance and responsibility. It takes a village is broke, busted, disgusted, you know the rest…
After all that is done, let’s see where we stand on the debt and knowing that revised number then I’ll state some more things we can do to pay down the debt.
good job Truthseeker
Greed panic greed panic greed panic. Ah the market. Limit orders triggered, and Chicken Littles dumped the World’s premier stock for cheap frantically grasping at what was left of their profits before the the End Of The World.
“This is the sort of stuff that has kept the individual investor out of this market during the rally over the past year. “
Totally braindead comment there. Individual investors, by and large, don’t know a thing about the stock market and consider buying a home, their primary focus of future investment growth.
Remember? Subprime mortgages….? People making bad decisions with no collateral.? Even they wanted to own their own homes. After they get a house, maybe they’ll consider stocks, or, you know.. .mutual funds?
A stable sustainable market is NOT going to happen for these reasons:
– Federal Reserve can set the interest rate at any rate with any kind of argumentation, thus create bubbles and inflation at random. They say they lower the interest rate in order to avoid a recession – while at the same time they create an artificial bubble.
– The US Dollar is a paper currency. Was taken off the gold standard in the 70s. With this move, the people has no way of protecting themselves against reckless government actions (from either party).
Without a real currency and with a Fed setting interest rates at random, people and investors has to trust the government and the bureaucrats on their word.
To trust or not to trust the government creates Feelings, and as we all know feelings can swing and are not a good fundament for building anything on.
This is why we will have more and more feelings and volatility in the markets.
The Free Market for Free Men is already dead.
Pretty much all stocks dipped like this. Wonder how this is going to end? This can’t be good. Windows 7 running that place? Or just the idiots that use Windows?
Truthseeker has the right idea.
Apple is not going away. It can’t keep ipads in stock and still hasn’t rolled them out to the rest of the world.
If some idiot computer (running Windows or Linux I am sure) really wants to dump AAPL at any price, do the algorithm a favor and pick up a few shares.
If you keep focused on the company and its cash flows, volatility is your friend.
millions, billions, what the heck?
Predicted about 50 years ago.
or go watch American Idol.
This is why I don’t own Apple stock in my 401K
portfolio. Much bigger investors than I are manipulating
the stock price to their advantage without letting me
in on it.
The market always knows best. Let the market decide!
/s
picked up at 240 and 238 to add to my position. Came in near the end of the carnage. I’ve never seen the dow down 900 before. I almost threw up in my salad when I saw apple at 220. But in a flash, it was back up.
Dumped my Berkshire Hathaway (Too much Goldman luggage) and picked up AAPL. Should make up for Buffett’s folly in about a month.
You know the US stock market is out of it’s freaking mind when the demolition of the rest of the world’s economy and lame brain corporations is taken out on one of the very few that has been 100% reliably profitable and growing during the entire ongoing Bush Depression:
Apple.
Hey day trader dolts: The very last shares you want to sell are Apple’s. Wake The Frick Up. Your ignorance is killing you.
Another way to know the US stock market is out of it’s freaking mind:
Yesterday’s final figures:
AAPL, Apple: 238.25, DOWN -8.00
GS, Goldman Sachs: 114.13, UP +1.81
That’s right folks. Innovative, profitable and growing Apple stock gets dumped while customer hating and destroying Goldman Sachs stock is bought. This is the equivalent of having brain damaged clowns with orange hair and big red noses running the finances of the USA. We are F*CKED.