The First Measured Century: Timeline: Events - Stock Market Crash

By NATHANIEL POPPER JULY 8, Problems with technology have at times roiled global financial markets, but the year-old New York Stock Exchange has held itself up as an oasis of humans ready to step in when the computers go haywire. The exchange ultimately returned to action shortly before the closing bell, and stocks continued trading throughout the day on other exchanges, like the Nasdaq and BATS Global Markets. The disruption nonetheless rattled investors, who already had reason to be on edge, considering the Greek debt crisis and an overnight market rout in China.

Wednesday provided other reminders of the fragility of automated systems that are doing jobs people once handled. An apparently unrelated technical problem grounded United Airlines flights for nearly two hours on Wednesday morning.

Stock Market Crash of | Federal Reserve History

The homepage of The Wall Street Journal was also down for part of Wednesday. Stray squirrels, security breaches and, more commonly, technical glitches have caused exchanges around the world to halt. Computer technology has revolutionized the trading of stocks in recent decades, making it faster and more efficient.

But there have been hiccups along the way. The Nasdaq stock market went down for three hours in because of a software bug. The problem Wednesday at the New York Stock Exchange is likely to revive a debate about how regulators can make the markets more resistant to computer failings.

At the same time, technology has created alternatives that allow trading in the United States to go on, even when its most prominent exchange does not. Stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange were traded on Wednesday in the New Jersey and Chicago data centers of upstart exchanges like BATS, which is based in Lenexa, Kan. Indeed, the overall volume of stock trading on Wednesday appeared to be largely consistent with the amount of daily trading earlier in the week.

Stock Market Crash of Facts, Causes, Effects

Other exchanges owned by the New York Stock Exchange, like its options exchange, operated normally on Wednesday throughout the shutdown. The problems at the New York exchange emerged soon after the opening bell rang at 9: The initial malfunctions affected only a small number of stocks, and the exchange appeared to get the problem under control, but the difficulties reappeared, on a more widespread basis, later that morning, traders said.

On a call with other members of the industry, as the problem grew worse, N.

Not long after that call, at View all New York Times newsletters. On the floor, traders said the exchange gave them no warning before making the move. Costa, a trader on the floor with Empire Executions. In the silence that followed, traders on the floor, looking for information, flocked to a ramped area of the huge complex on Wall Street where employees of the exchange are located. The traders were told that the exchange had been updating software before the trading day began, and that the software had contained a bug that could not be fixed without shutting down the system.

Once they had finished, the exchange rebooted its system, a process that took around 45 minutes, Mr. Trading ultimately resumed around 3: Throughout the day, federal regulators and law enforcement agencies monitored the situation for any sign of an outside attack and ultimately saw nothing indicating anything other than an internal software error.

President Obama was briefed on the exchange shutdown, a White House aide said, adding that officials there and at the Treasury Department were monitoring the situation. The New York Stock Exchange and its new Atlanta owner, the Intercontinental Exchange, are likely to face questions after the shutdown.

After the failure began, it took over half an hour for the exchange to broadcast even basic information about the shutdown, to allay concerns that it might have been caused by a malicious attack.

An ICE spokeswoman, Sara Rich, denied any suggestion the cuts had an effect. A version of this article appears in print on July 9, , on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: The Bell Rings, Computers Fail, Wall St.

Order Reprints Today's Paper Subscribe. Tell us what you think. Please upgrade your browser. Sections Home Search Skip to content Skip to navigation View mobile version.

The New York Times window. DealBook The Stock Market Bell Rings, Computers Fail, Wall Street Cringes. Subscribe Now Log In 0 Settings. Close search Site Search Navigation Search NYTimes. Clear this text input. By NATHANIEL POPPER JULY 8, Continue reading the main story Share This Page Continue reading the main story. Timeline A History of Stock Exchange Failures Stray squirrels, security breaches and, more commonly, technical glitches have caused exchanges around the world to halt.

Delivered weekday mornings and afternoons. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to.

You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. You are already subscribed to this email.

Matthew Goldstein and Julie Hirschfeld Davis contributed reporting. Related Coverage An Offline N.

The Stock Market Bell Rings, Computers Fail, Wall Street Cringes - The New York Times

Business Tech Science Health Sports Education Obituaries Today's Paper Corrections. Opinion Today's Opinion Op-Ed Columnists Editorials Contributing Writers Op-Ed Contributors Opinionator Letters Sunday Review Taking Note Room for Debate Public Editor Video: Events Guide Television Theater Video: Events Guide Blogs Multimedia Photography Video NYT Store Times Journeys Subscribe Manage My Account.

Subscribe Subscribe Home Delivery Digital Subscriptions Crossword Email Newsletters Alerts Gift Subscriptions Corporate Subscriptions Education Rate Mobile Applications Replica Edition.