I am saying there is no proof of what you are claiming even though everyone is claiming that. If everyone had been buying and the same problem occurred, would you be complaining too?
There is a high statistical likelihood that it happened on a massive scale, actually. The only way to know specifically who was affected, and to what degree, would be to have the NYSE turn over time/date stamps of orders that were generated, and compare to them to when they were executed, and contrast the buy and sell executions.
This hits the nail on the head. Yesterday i had fills coming in from the NYSE hours after the market closed. My guys were short GS from the 201 level and put in market orders to cover at 3:40 when the stock was 199.75. The fills were held until 4:20 and came in at 196!!!!. Everyone is gonna say why am i complaining but imagine you were on the other side of this trade trying to get out of a falling stock. Thats just a joke and an utter embarrassent for the exchange. I'm absolutely stupidied that there haven't been more complaints. How anyone can have ANY confidence in this POS system in the event something REALLY goes wrong is beyond me. Thain's an asshole and I hope they take it in the pooper but good for this fuckup, there really is no excuse.
I think it's logical to assume that when those backlogged orders went through all at once, it created panic and additional selling that may not neccessarily have taken place had the orders been processed on time. If the dow gaps down 200 points on Thursday morning, how much panic selling will ensue? Certainly more than if the dow opens down 10 points and methodically drops another 190 points througout the day, don't you think?
I am not a person who endorses litigation at the drop of a hat, or government investigations, for that matter, but this problem is so real, serious and likely to occur again, that both are actually called for. Litigation would allow the public to get access to what really happened behind the scenes at the NYSE, through discovery. Again, I believe it is a certainty that traders were financially injured by this issue. Who knows how much the damages could be? It could easily run into the tens of billions of dollars. Also, it is entirely possible that the same glitch caused profits to accrue to others, when they ordinarily would not have (had buy and sell orders been executed in a timely fashion), but there is no way to know what the net-net wash was without a complete investigation. Maybe the NYSE should use courier pigeons.
Futures and options led the break. 3.5 million ES traded. 161,839 ES options. 244,479 SP options. At the CBOE over 4,000,000 index options traded. Is anyone so dumb as to think SPX auctions down 60 handles in completely orderly fashion? Cascading stops of massive proportions cause price dislocations. Shit happens. Live with it or find another gig......
Pabst, the NYSE admitted technical issues failed to allow orders to be executed in a timely fashion, and that a backlog of orders that had been bottlenecked were released all at once, creating a giant, distorted swing of the index average. If you were placing large orders on Tuesday, and lost buku $$$ because of it, when you would have lost less, broke even, or alternatively, profited, don't you think it is unacceptable?
I think the exchanges are well compensated for their services, as such I believe traders are entitled to accurate real time quotes and instant execution. I am extremely pro-business, but I do expect the business to deliver the product with no excuses. I won't get too upset with an improperly filled drive-thru order at a fast food joint, but we are talking about the world economy here, there is no room for mistakes.
Even though I was massively short (futures), I share your pain. I've been there. I was once short 200 bonds and as they took out the HOD and there wasn't an offer for a full point! Liquidity is not guaranteed. Robust systems are not guaranteed. Hell, the exchange remaining open is not even guaranteed. Most listed day traders make their living by exploiting "the system." Occasionally there's a toll to pay along the way.....
I understand what you're saying, but I think traders deserve proper order execution. I lost very little on Tuesday, because I was mainly in cash. But I feel for those who did lose money because of that glitch. And I would side with them in any dispute with the NYSE. Cheers.