What Caused the NASDAQ Flash Freeze?

On August 22, the NASDAQ stock exchange was hit by some kind of electronic malfunction. Trading was brought to a halt in an embarrassing display for NASDAQ and a possible sign of deeper problems in the way the exchange is run.

NYSE and NASDAQ Debate Cause of Flash Freeze

After the so-called “Flash Freeze” stopped trading on the NASDAQ, days later executives from NASDAQ and the NYSE are blaming each other for the problems. Meanwhile Mark Cuban is blaming some kind of cyber attack. MarketWatch reported that:

Five days after a glitch caused a three-hour halt in trading of Nasdaq-listed securities, rival exchanges Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. NDAQ +0.01% and NYSE Euronext NYX -0.04% are unable to agree on what happened during the blackout, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the situation. U.S. regulators have asked the two exchanges to come up with a timeline for the outage, but the companies disagree on the details, with each side blaming the other for the glitch, Reuters said. The main reason for the disagreement is the role of NYSE’s fully electronic stock market Arca, as connectivity problems between Arca and the Nasdaq-operated Securities Information Processor caused the trading issues. The incident, dubbed the “flash freeze”, occurred last Thursday and disrupted trading in about 3,200 stocks listed on the Nasdaq, including Apple Inc. AAPL +2.35% and Google Inc. GOOG -0.12% . The dispute between the two rival exchanges could damage investor confidence and increase pressure from smaller rivals.

NASDAQ Flash Freeze Intraday View

Fox Business: Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban on the IRS and NSA scandals and what he sees as the lack of trust in the global markets.

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