House panel to hold stock market inquiry

Computerworld - The House Financial Services Committee today said its securities subcommittee plans to hold a hearing next week to examine the operational issues surrounding the U.S. stock market plunge Thursday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 1,000 points in a half hour Thursday before bouncing back to within 348 points of the day's opening. Industry sources said the precipitous drop was likely due to both human error that was exacerbated by high-speed trading platforms rolled out over the past decade.

The Dow fell to 9,867 points from its previous day's close of 10,868 before rebounding to 10,464 points by the close of the market Thursday. Industry experts said it was obvious that there was some sort of "algorithmic error" in the computerized trading systems that caused the pricing in the markets to collapse.

For example, TD Ameritrade said one of its client's stock price orders started at $60 and dropped to 11 cents before rebounding. In another example, The Wall Street Journal's MarketBeat blog reported Accenture's stock price plummeted from more than $40 at 2:47 p.m. to a penny at 2:48 p.m.

The House Financial Services' securities subcommittee plans to hold a hearing at 3 p.m. Tuesday to address the causes of the dramatic drop in the Dow before it recovered.

House subcommittee Chairman Paul Kanjorski, (D-Penn.), said in a statement that Thursday's stock market seemed "just as volatile as it did in the fall of 2008."

"Reports have surfaced that much of this movement was potentially as a result of a computer glitch," Kanjorski said. "We cannot allow a technological error to spook the markets and cause panic. This is unacceptable. In this day and age and with the use of such complex technology, we should be able to make sure that our financial markets are effectively monitored and investors are protected."

Kanjorski also called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the problem.

Earlier this year, the SEC sent a letter to brokerage houses saying it was conducting a "broad review" of the equity market structure and asking them for comments. The review would include an evaluation of equity market structure performance in recent years and an assessment of whether market structure rules have kept pace with, among other things, trading technology.

The SEC asked for comment on a wide range of market structure issues, including high frequency trading, order routing, market data linkages, and undisplayed, or "dark," liquidity.

"The Commission intends to use the public's comments to help determine whether regulatory initiatives to improve the current equity market structure are needed and, if so, the specific nature of such initiatives," the letter stated.