6 ms·

Accenture (ACN) went from $40 to $.01 and back up to $40. http://www.google.com/finance?q=acn http://www.google.com/finance?q=acn

by px 16y ago

chc 16y ago
Good lord, if you'd put $10 into that during the panic, you'd have $40000 now.
- natrius 16y ago
  Someone has to actually sell you shares at that price for that to happen. It was likely a data error. No one is going to sell Accenture shares for a penny.
  - cperciva 16y ago
    It was likely a data error. No one is going to sell Accenture shares for a penny. Or a bit more precisely: Someone might have entered a big sell order at $0.01/share by mistake, but when this happens the stock exchanges usually undo those trades, so even if you think you bought ACN for $0.01/share, you probably didn't.
    - omellet 16y ago
      It's very likely that trade got busted almost immediately.
      - dhyasama 16y ago
        When I worked at an HFT shop broken trades were the bain of our existence. We had parameters to screen for trades that would probably be broken, but sometimes they would be broken outside of those. The way it works is either party to a trade can request the trade be broken, it goes to a mediator, and both sides make there case. It usually only takes a few minutes, but you can lose a bundle in that time especially if you were selling as the price is dropping, think you're flat only to have your sale broken.
  - Rantenki 16y ago
    It is possible that somebody did, however, it would have been a data entry mistake.
potatolicious 16y ago
I dunno... seems more probably a blip in the data rather than value actually falling to $0.01 momentarily...
- nostrademons 16y ago
  Most likely, it went "no-bid". At any given time, there're a bunch of people who have long-term $0.01 limit orders for a bunch of stocks. Markets work by matching up buyers and sellers; if there are no buyers at "normal" prices, the computer systems will start eating up those $0.01 bids that are placed and left in the computer systems without any expectation of being filled. The folks who place those orders become fabulously wealthy, the folks who tried to sell at any price get screwed.
  - eli 16y ago
    It seems unbelievably unlikely that a stock traded with the volume of accenture could ever have no bids. Wouldn't you have to blow through all the people who put in limit orders for the company first? I don't see how this could possibly be true.
    - eru 16y ago
      Yes, seems quite unlikely--but may still have happened.
  - yummyfajitas 16y ago
    Typically the exchanges break these trades after the fact (i.e., over the next 24 hours).
    - jluxenberg 16y ago
      Why? Because the trade was "unfair?" I wonder what legal grounds they would have to break that trade.
      - cschneid 16y ago
deleted 16y ago
[deleted]
alphaBetaGamma 16y ago
Probably a data issue. On a data source used by professionals it 'only' when down to 38.5 before going up again.
- nostromo 16y ago
  According to Bloomberg that was a real trade that went through.
  - borism 16y ago
    and was later cancelled
    - nostromo 16y ago
      http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-06/nasdaq-says-investigating-erroneous-trades-after-market-plunge.html http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-06/nasdaq-says-inve... "Eighteen of the trades were executed on the CBOE Stock Exchange and were canceled. The first trade that sent Accenture to a penny was executed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. That transaction has yet to be canceled, the data showed."
alphaBetaGamma 16y ago
Not a data blip after all, but the trades where canceld. From Bloomberg ( http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3tiFiVZLZwg&pos=1 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3ti... ) : A total of 19 trades of 100 shares each were executed at 1 cent in seven seconds from 2:47 p.m. to 2:48 p.m. in New York, a minute after the Dow average plunged by the most since the market crash of 1987, the data showed. Eighteen of the trades were executed on the CBOE Stock Exchange and were canceled. The first trade that sent Accenture to a penny was executed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. That transaction has yet to be canceled, the data showed.

Accenture (ACN) went from $40 to $.01 and back up to $40. http://www.google.com/finance?q=acn http://www.google.com/finance?q=acn

by px 16y ago

Accenture (ACN) went from $40 to $.01 and back up to $40. http://www.google.com/finance?q=acn http://www.google.com/finance?q=acn

chc 16y ago

Good lord, if you'd put $10 into that during the panic, you'd have $40000 now.

natrius 16y ago
Someone has to actually sell you shares at that price for that to happen. It was likely a data error. No one is going to sell Accenture shares for a penny.
- cperciva 16y ago
  It was likely a data error. No one is going to sell Accenture shares for a penny. Or a bit more precisely: Someone might have entered a big sell order at $0.01/share by mistake, but when this happens the stock exchanges usually undo those trades, so even if you think you bought ACN for $0.01/share, you probably didn't.
  - omellet 16y ago
    It's very likely that trade got busted almost immediately.
    - dhyasama 16y ago
      When I worked at an HFT shop broken trades were the bain of our existence. We had parameters to screen for trades that would probably be broken, but sometimes they would be broken outside of those. The way it works is either party to a trade can request the trade be broken, it goes to a mediator, and both sides make there case. It usually only takes a few minutes, but you can lose a bundle in that time especially if you were selling as the price is dropping, think you're flat only to have your sale broken.
- Rantenki 16y ago
  It is possible that somebody did, however, it would have been a data entry mistake.

potatolicious 16y ago

I dunno... seems more probably a blip in the data rather than value actually falling to $0.01 momentarily...

nostrademons 16y ago
Most likely, it went "no-bid". At any given time, there're a bunch of people who have long-term $0.01 limit orders for a bunch of stocks. Markets work by matching up buyers and sellers; if there are no buyers at "normal" prices, the computer systems will start eating up those $0.01 bids that are placed and left in the computer systems without any expectation of being filled. The folks who place those orders become fabulously wealthy, the folks who tried to sell at any price get screwed.
- eli 16y ago
  It seems unbelievably unlikely that a stock traded with the volume of accenture could ever have no bids. Wouldn't you have to blow through all the people who put in limit orders for the company first? I don't see how this could possibly be true.
  - eru 16y ago
    Yes, seems quite unlikely--but may still have happened.
- yummyfajitas 16y ago
  Typically the exchanges break these trades after the fact (i.e., over the next 24 hours).
  - jluxenberg 16y ago
    Why? Because the trade was "unfair?" I wonder what legal grounds they would have to break that trade.
    - cschneid 16y ago

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

alphaBetaGamma 16y ago

Probably a data issue. On a data source used by professionals it 'only' when down to 38.5 before going up again.

nostromo 16y ago
According to Bloomberg that was a real trade that went through.
- borism 16y ago
  and was later cancelled
  - nostromo 16y ago
    http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-06/nasdaq-says-investigating-erroneous-trades-after-market-plunge.html http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-06/nasdaq-says-inve... "Eighteen of the trades were executed on the CBOE Stock Exchange and were canceled. The first trade that sent Accenture to a penny was executed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. That transaction has yet to be canceled, the data showed."

alphaBetaGamma 16y ago

Not a data blip after all, but the trades where canceld. From Bloomberg ( http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3tiFiVZLZwg&pos=1 http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3ti... ) : A total of 19 trades of 100 shares each were executed at 1 cent in seven seconds from 2:47 p.m. to 2:48 p.m. in New York, a minute after the Dow average plunged by the most since the market crash of 1987, the data showed. Eighteen of the trades were executed on the CBOE Stock Exchange and were canceled. The first trade that sent Accenture to a penny was executed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. That transaction has yet to be canceled, the data showed.