This is a trading forum, we are capitalists. While the tragedy of the situation was catastrophic, either hedging a long or entering a short (the same net dollar impact would occur in either situatiion from the pre 9/11 position) would have been a great move. We are traders, and such an opportunity should be taken with no questions asked. If one felt so inclined, then one could donate his earnings on the trade to a fund. If not, that is also a valid decision. If something happens this Sept.11, I will be over the short.
Seeing that slideshow really got to me. I remember the last time I saw the towers with my own eyes was on February 8'th, 2001. Now looking at the NY skyline without them there is just scary. It is like living in another alternate universe. So much has changed since that day, and so much will continue to change. The United States, and for that matter, the entire world will never be the same place as it was before that day -- that day ranks as #1 in my book, compared to all other events in history. aphie
Bung... I arrived at my office last Sept. 11 just as the second plane hit. I had an Instinet (inca) terminal right on my desk. Prices were showing. But trades were not executed. The prices did not change (my terminal was level 2 Instinet), so I believe the system was shut down. If trades were executed, I would imagine the trades after a specified time of the morning were busted. But nothing I saw traded. I had the terminal in "flip" position if anyone knows what that means.....(I could see a full page of stocks rather than just one in normal mode). As far as I know, only the Globex continued to trade for a while after the second plane hit. I don't know what happened with those trades since I never pay much attention to Globex. I do remember that the index futures were up nicely before the first plane hit, and then tanked after the second one hit. The rules on INCA are clear. If a stock is stopped on it's primary exchange, it cannot trade on Instinet. If it does, the trades are busted. Happens all the time. So INCA could not have been operating when you thought it was. I believe the same rules apply to all ECNs. Hope this clears it up. Rs7
Same here, yet I am sure for another generation Pearl Harbor was the defining moment. The consequences were far greater (so far).
i can only speak of events that occurred during my lifetime when i was old enough to really think about them. but i'd say september 11th is my #1 most unbelievable day also. it is totally like something you'd see in a movie..but sadly it was real.
I was trading the Dax future in London on 911. I had been losing money all day as the market traded very quietly without any trend before the US opened. The market came off quickly, about 10 points, the move looked significant as it had been almost a flat line on the charts in comparison, we did not have the tv on at this point, I hit the bid and the market kept going down, I bought back five ticks lower. I did this three times as the market moved lower, the last time I sold the low and the market bounced, I took a small loss. Then someone shouted out that a plane had hit the wtc and the tv was turned on. The market collapsed over 100 points and I missed hitting the bid as the move was so quick, the market rallied a bit and then the second plane hit, I again missed hitting the bid. The market must have been off 300-500 points by then and I was flat. A bit later someone comes running out of the next office saying the pentagon had been hit according to reuters. I hit the bid and then try to buy back about 20 points lower immediately and the order gets rejected by eurex as the market had moved too quickly. I then put another order in and buy back about 30 ticks lower. The market most have gone down about another 100 points. The Dax was down 8.1% for the day. It only stopped going down when a 2000 lot bid appeared. I didn't trade for about three days afterwards as I was too busy watching tv and felt sick that I had traded through the start of a war when so many people died. I have moved home and trade options now.
I was a heavy buyer of QQQ calls on both Friday and Monday. I had 33.30 as support off some measuring stuff I use and wanted to be a bit more leveraged buying off that level with options than I could get in NQ. I wasn't in front of the screen until minutes after the first plane hit, and I recall distinctly ES being up 2 pts. As I watched CNBC I was convinced that the damage was that of a small plane. I've always been a "disaster buff", so from that standpoint I was both intrigued and horrified, because the damage looked bad enough that I imagined there would be casualties. I remember thinking to myself that I wouldn't be surprised if a hundred people were killed. When the second plane hit, I was wrong in my assessment again. I didn't see the actual plane, if you were watching CNBC, you'll recall that the WNBC feed was shot from far uptown, and I thought one of the other news copters had flown into Tower One. By the time the replay showed what was obviously a jetliner, the market was breaking so hard, I was too stunned to sell futures against my calls. On Monday premium was so jacked up on the open that I had a half way reasonable out, but waited to see if there would be a recovery, that of course was not sustained. It was by far my worst day trading last year, but compared to the much greater loss suffered by so many, the money didn't matter one bit.