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Any trader watching the stock market today just about needed a shock to the heart as the DJIA – Dow Jones Industrial Average – plummeted almost 1,000 points because of a trading error. The stock market today felt the dive of the DJIA, starting with a huge Proctor and Gamble sell-off. A mistake like this is certainly a trading error that may leave one Citigroup employee looking for internet loans – or a new job?

DJIA brought to its knees by trading error

Because of a "trading error" most major stock market indexes lost almost 10% of their value in just under an hour. A plunge between 2 and 3 p.m. raised questions of financial downfall in an already-shaky market. Stock futures sales of Proctor and Gamble triggered this major sell-off. What the heck happened?

Trading error caused the DJIA plunge

Some news companies are blaming the stock market today on a single wrong letter. By entering a "b" instead of an "m" in their trading program, a Citigroup employee sold billions of shares of Proctor and Gamble stock – whoops. Billions of stock futures were sold in just 120 seconds.

Citigroup says trading error not its fault

Citigroup has said the trading error is leading to an investigation in the company, though "At this point we have no evidence that Citigroup was involved in any erroneous transaction". As a result of the Citigroup trading error or not, Proctor and Gamble was definitely the center of the DJIA drop.

Trading error made worse by electronic trading

In and of itself, the trading error was bad enough to bring the Dow Jones to its knees. The tumble was made even worse by automated trading on the NYSE and Nasdaq. Rather than in-person, most trades on the stock market are now electronic. When the Proctor and Gamble stock price began to fall, automated trading programs started selling off. Programmed to sell when a stock hits a particular price, these programs started selling off hundreds of millions of shares.

Trading error heightens fear of DIJA fall

Though the tumbling DJIA today was the result of a trading error, it is heightening fear of another financial crisis. Investors are incredibly nervous because of both a falling Euro and riots in Greece. This trading error certainly isn't making anyone more confident in the financial industry.

Sources

CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/id/36999483

The Street

http://www.thestreet.com/story/10749060/1/stock-market-crash-or-trading-error.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN

Tags: djia, Greece riots, internet loans, Trading error