Apparently more than a few traders had heart palpitations today. As the market closed, Google’s share price appeared to fall apart, falling to $200 from an opening price of $396. At least that’s what the Nasdaq ticker showed.
That was $62 billion in market cap that was zapped away in the last four minutes before the fiscal quarter ended and the markets closed, and it was automatically reported by Google Finance and other sites (the comments here on MarketWatch’s uncorrected article show how freaked out some people were).
And the “drop” came as the markets surged on news that the bailout was still in play and mark-to-market rules were suspended (allowing banks to stay solvent). So what happened?
“It was a data glitch, which is extremely rare” said one hedge fund guy I know. “But yeah, for a second we freaked out.” In after hours trading Google is back to normal, trading at $407.
Update: From Briefing.com (still trying to figure out if any actual trades occurred, everyone says no so far):
Google trades after 3:57 pm under investigation by Nasdaq; trades were “potentially erroneous” - Bloomberg (404.14 -39.57)
Update 2: Ok, we’re hearing that some trades DID go through at the crazy prices, and they will almost certainly be undone.
Update 3: NASDAQ has posted an official statement, and is canceling all of the erroneous trades:
Pursuant to Rule 11890(b) NASDAQ, on its own motion, has determined to cancel all trades in security Google Inc Cl - A “GOOG” at or above $425.29 and at or below $400.52 that were executed in NASDAQ between 15:57:00 and 16:02:00 ET. In addition, NASDAQ will be adjusting the NASDAQ Official Closing Cross (NOCP)and all trades executed in the cross to $400.52. This decision cannot be appealed. MarketWatch has coordinated this decision to break trades with other UTP Exchanges. NASDAQ will be canceling trades on the participant’s behalf.
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This was a huge issue yesterday - vb had a post about it - nearly every stock had the wrong closing price. I guess that’s what Beta means? I still see $341as the closing price.
FYI - my brokerage account shows as the closing price for GOOG today:
$341.43 39.57 (10.39%)
(this is not google finance)
The afterhours trades are in the $407ish range.
Sep 30, 2008 17:21:47 ET The NASDAQ Official Closing Price in GOOG will be adjusted to $400.52. This will be reflected on the tape shortly. Clients who had executions in today’s closing cross in GOOG will get the shares at the adjusted price ($400.52) in clearing tomorrow, and will receive an electronic break today. Any questions please call Market Operations at 212-231-5100.
http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Tr.....tatusToday
Pursuant to Rule 11890(b) NASDAQ, on its own motion, has determined to cancel all trades in security Google Inc Cl - A “GOOG” at or above $425.29 and at or below $400.52 that were executed in NASDAQ between 15:57:00 and 16:02:00 ET. In addition, NASDAQ will be adjusting the NASDAQ Official Closing Cross (NOCP)and all trades executed in the cross to $400.52. This decision cannot be appealed. MarketWatch has coordinated this decision to break trades with other UTP Exchanges. NASDAQ will be canceling trades on the participant’s behalf.
Who knows this may be some Indication of future, watch out
True, that’s what really terrifying - after all these talks after the market closure what will we see tomorrow morning. Terrifying.
There was no ‘glitch’ or ‘bug’ Arrington. Your darling did indeed drop in stock price, get your head out of the sand and smell the roses.
I’ve talked to three people about this now, and all say no actual trades occurred at that price. I’ll update with more info as it comes in.
I hope I speak for all TC readers when I say we’re 100% fine with you hiding/deleting totally troll-bait replies.
That or give us a way to downvote responses into oblivion that are disrespectful/trollish.
So it is your assertion that in the last second of trading the stock price legitimately fell to $0.01? The other explanation, that there was some kind of reporting issue, seems more likely to me
Yes, that is the assertion I’m making because it DID happen as reported by NASDAQ.
@Joe, pics or didn’t happen
maybe the nasdaq was hacked and they don’t want to tell everyone to prevent loss of confidence.
when google drops $200 a share in a day….lots of people are going to be crapping themselves
i dont see any gaggl investors or workers losing there homes to this fiasco.
they can afford to crap on themselves. only the financial elite can afford a share price of 350+.
Only the “financial elite” !?!?! Okey dokey capitan I live in a van down by the river…
Uh, they’re all in dollars. $350 of Google shares are worth the same as $350 of Apple shares. It’s not like investors are required to buy specific numbers of shares - I can buy as many or as few as I like.
Apparently, GOOG traded at 1 penny at some point today. That’s according to Google Finance.
http://finance.google.com/finance?q=goog
yeah that just changed, it was $200 a minute ago as a low trade.
WOW, HEART ATTACK. good thing it was only a glitch.
http://gatesandjobs.blogspot.com/
Good thing it wasn’t real!
Wow - I, along with my co-workers, just about had a meltdown.
I would grab myself some GOOG if it dropped $200
some where jerry yang is lol’ing
You mean buying up Google shares?
I saw this and I was like WTF… then tickers on various sites were all showing different numbers.
Arrington, this did not happen only on Google Finance and other free info sites. This happened on PAID trading platforms and news platforms as well. Many of these platforms all draw price feeds from the same source.
yep. the nasdaq ticker went crazy.
The stock opened at $381 and closed at $341.43. That is a $39.57 loss on the day. Do your math before you post a story like this.
right, except that isn’t what happened. The numbers on the finance sites keep changing. Right now it still shows a day low of $0.01. Want me to do the math on that?
So your a wise guy? Maybe you should do your research on a site that actually displays the proper quotes then. Seriously, do you think that Google’s stock would crash that hard, or are you just one of those guys that checks your quotes on msn.com. I think that you should stay away from any stories dealing with the stock market because you are in way over your head.
the story at first was that the ticker went crazy. Now it’s that trades occured and will likely be undone. I think you need to read the article.
I did read the story and I thought it was right on the brink of sharing with the SEC to have pulled off of your site immediately.
I don’t think it works that way.
Ditto –Mike, sober up, man…
you guys need to actually read the post.
guess i should read the whole thing, i quickly went to my brokerage account to put in a buy order….
Arrington, you are an ass, contributing to the talking heads’ hysteric statements that “Armageddon”, “meltdown”, “free fall” and the “greatest financial crisis in history” is happening –NO such a thing.
You should have titled your post as “Because of a glitch, Google Stock Falls $200 As Market Closes…”
Settle down - it was a catchy title to catch your attention - it is clear when you read the article that something went sideways because of a technical glitch. Sounds like someone needs a brown paper bag to near his monitor to prevent from Hyperventilating on reading his newsfeed.
Everybody is sitting in limbo trying to figure out what is going to happen and today’s rally will inevitably lead to tomorrow’s massive sell off followed by Thursday huge spike. The reality is something went sideways and of all times now is not the time to have a technical glitch.
Cheers - Eric
I actually had “(But Not Really)” in the title and removed it when it became clear that trades had occurred. I’m gonna feel really bad if it turns out that the title changed contributed to a worldwide financial meltdown.
There you go again… there is no “worldwide financial meltdown” –There are serious corrections on multiple stock markets, as it is. It is their nature: you know, “up, down, up, down…” –etc.
What you have not realized [yet] is that because of your unnecessary posting, your “popularity” stock has REALLY changed over at Google.
Maybe you do not care, but you will certainly find that some of your calls will not be returned and some “sources” will not talk to you anymore.
sarcasm. be calm. we’ll get you through this.
Man, you still don’t get it…
But I have to say that, at least, you are consistent: It brings back memories of your maniacal obsession with Jerry Yang and Yahoo –Where are they now? Just making millions, while you are still a very small player, writing crap on this blog.
i love chatting with psychotic anonymous commenters. I’m guessing you still haven’t actually read the post.
Mike, my point is that you are wasting so much of your time and energy on this irrelevant “glitch” topic that you are really hurting your credibility, and of course, TC’s credibility.
Now, if you really think that this is of no consequence, please go ahead, keep biting your own tail…
See updates, some trades apparently did go through, possibly even at $0.01/share. They will almost certainly be undone.
This looks like a case where the glitch became reality for four minutes as the market closed.
They have been undone:
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsou.....le_at.html
i almost cried when i saw that title but all is well now
http://www.alleyinsider.com/20.....ogle-goog- - the real story with NASDAQ statement posted by Henry Blodget @Alley Insider -
Michael - I think you should do a post about people how don’t read the post and then leave comments anyway. Is that normal?
Transactions at or above $425.29 and at or below $400.52, that were executed between 3:57 p.m. and 4:02 p.m. EST, would be wiped out, Nasdaq said.
I’ve been reading tech crunch for as long as it’s been around, and this is the first time i feel compelled to comment on any one of your posts. Posting such an article is just wrong - I’m sorry, as one commenter mentioned, you are out of your depth on this one and it really is a very silly and disappointingly unprofessional post.
Michael is not “out of [his] depth” on this topic. He was a corporate attorney at WSG&R prior to TC. Give him a break.
“Financial Terrorism”
Mike… examine the price of Sirius Sat Radio…. this happened yesterday and today. The stock was flat all day and then plunged 10% at the minute before it closed.
I suspect there are other stocks getting caught in this tech glitch.
Is this a real glitch or attempted manipulation?
This is an on going Issue. I believe investors need to play safe for coming few weeks. Thanks
Mudassir
http://www.socialmediaplex.com
United Airlines gets revenge?
It’s just hard to imagine such a large one day drop. Apple’s drop also shocked me. Way to go congress!
The amazing thing is how far it has fallen from its high in the 600s. I wonder how much of the stock has been liquidated by insiders.
I agree, the title of this post it very misleading. It doesn’t mention the glitch until halfway through the article.
The argument would go that sensational stories like these are getting us to comment and talk about them (creating buzz) however this type of buzz will only go so far.
62 billion in market cap probably exceeds the annual GDP of 95% of all the worlds’ economies.
there was so many mistakes in other stocks too…like brkb was trading for $49 for a short time and then back to $4000!!!!
Hey Mike, there are many google shareholders who were shaken looking at this title, that’s it. You keep up!
Heart attacks? Hardly. The problem is that the market value is only as good as the last trade.
If I decide to sell 2 shares of Google to my grandma for $100, whooeeee — there goes $58 billion in market capitalization!
OK, maybe not quite. But the mechanism is quite similar. What a waste of panic.
The world isn’t just sound bites or article titles. You really do need to read the whole story, and understand the context, and have some knowledge about a topic, before moving forward with either productive dialogue, or harsh ridicule.
I’m still with Google all the way!
So, in the end, our lives are based upon what the computer says…
something about who you are:
http://neoviky.blogspot.com/20.....e-you.html
…….and the most disruptive idea in the world…
http://neoviky.blogspot.com/2008/09/inet.html
Ain’t market manipulation grand? Jesus Christ, you’d think things worked differently than this. Oh well. Can’t beat them, join them I guess.
I think I might just make a list of these stocks if this keeps happening and set trades to buy them first thing at 9am before the price can adjust back to where it belongs.
57 cents for Sirius XM radio is hilarious, I could buy 100,000 shares and then sell it when it gets to 63 and make 6 grand.
Darn!
I just parked my new, just purchased yatch next to Uncle Larry Ellison’s boat.
And the repo team is headed to Moffet Field to take my Leerjet, parked closed to Google One.
Andl I’ll need to return the Ferreri I bought in El Camino Real.
Maybe some of the guys at the taco place can give me a ride to Atherton in their overcrouded pick-up truck.
No, they are not not illegals heading to the Home Depot in Eats Palo Alto…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..they’re Google stockholdersgoing for their last Starbucks!
Long Live the Tall Latte Decaf!!!!!!!!
Mike, I just got home from work and ate dinner. Traffic here in LA is really busy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8.....3/sizes/o/
GOOG is showing $411
I want to set triggers before tomorrow.
I am thinking YHOO at buy @ $16, sell at @ $14 and pray that I don’t lose everything while I’m at work trying to earn a living.
I’ve been waiting years for it to get this bad. If you’re not in bed yet, please tell me, YHOO or GOOG? At best I can set triggers tomorrow morning before I leave.
DISCLAIMER: The screenshot and buy & sell quotes above are not based on any type of information. I literally have no idea what I’m talking about or doing, like 95% of investors. At least I don’t throw darts.
With that said, I am betting it all on YHOO/Park Place. I’m sure Mike’s tirades against Jerry Yang will pay off sooner rather than later. I’m sure Mike’s articles hurt him. Even if MS doesn’t come back @30 a share, confidence will return with new leadership. I know all the Yahooers jumped on here against Mike, but the market isn’t ruled by reality. It’s ruled by fears and doubt and perception.
Don’t know where you got the “mark-to-market accounting suspended” story from. The SEC released a statement that changes absolutely nothing about the FAS 157 and fair value accounting, just clarifies it (it’s just a b.s. press statement).
Damn, when I saw that my first instinct was “I’m clearing out my savings and getting some GOOG!”
Then I saw it was all a glitch
blame it on the cloud
Fell as a result of erroneous trades…but how with so much inbuilt security….
This isn’t really news. Erroneous trades happen several days a week, and sometimes produce some really wacky charts. It’s so common that Nasdaq has started charging a fee for investigating claims of “Clearly Erroneous” trades (if they disagree) because people are abusing the policy to break trades they were simply unhappy with. Sure, this was a big-name stock, but it’s still not news. It happens all the time.
You should make sure your updates show up on the homepage as well, or at least put something saying “there have been updates to this story” right before read more.
Hopefully that glitch does not happen again. Any new updates on this?