De olhos em bico depois de dizerem isto...
Bolsas viveram pior semana desde o 11 de Setembro: Na terça-feira passada, a "bolha" especulativa na China rebentou. E, em quatro dias, o "efeito borboleta" estendeu-se por todo o mundo, traduzindo-se na perda total dos ganhos acumulados em 2007 pelas bolsas mundiais. Agora, os analistas dividem-se: há quem admita uma inversão do ciclo de subidas nas acções; mas a maior parte dos peritos considera que se trata apenas de uma correcção pontual e até "saudável".
'Bolha' na China rebenta e assusta bolsas mundiais: Tudo isto teve na sua origem o mesmo factor: a Bolsa da China sofreu a maior queda da última década (-8,8%), confirmando os alertas recentes de que o rebentamento da sua "bolha especulativa" estava prestes a acontecer.
China prega susto às bolsas mundiais: A queda de ontem nas praças mundiais, iniciada com a maior desvalorização diária da principal bolsa chinesa na última década, pode indiciar aquilo que já há muito se espera: uma correcção nos mercados depois de quatro anos a subir. A opinião dos especialistas quanto à extensão da queda divide-se, mas a opinião geral é positiva.
Bolsas mundiais registam fortes perdas durante o dia num movimento que os analistas atribuem aos receios de abrandamento da economia americana e a um “crash” na bolsa de Xangai, que terminou a sessão a cair nove por cento, a maior queda em mais de uma década.
...porque é que não se explicou - e já passou uma semana - que o tal "crash" se deveu também a isto:
Swiftness of Dow Drop Due to Computers: Computer Glitch Causes Dow Jones Industrial Average to Fall Faster Than Normal
A computer glitch triggered a sudden plunge in the Dow Jones industrial average at mid-afternoon Tuesday, turning an already bad day in stocks into a head-turning spectacle.
Dow Jones & Co., the media company that manages the well-known index of 30 blue chip stocks, said it discovered shortly before 2 p.m. that its computers weren't properly handling the day's huge volume in trades at the New York Stock Exchange.
It switched to a backup computer, and the result was a massive swoon in the index as the secondary system took over processing shortly before 3 p.m.
The Dow plunged about 200 points almost instantly, and was down as much as 546 points -- its worst single-session decline in more than five years, and one that sent the blue chips into negative territory for the year.
"I've never seen a collapse like that, and I've only been doing this for 47 years," said Alfred E. Goldman, chief market strategist at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc.
The heavy volume of some 4.5 billion trades, almost double the average, came on a day in which investors worldwide were rattled by a nearly 9 percent drop in Chinese stocks overnight. Investors, draped in concerns that stocks were overvalued and that economic weakness was at hand, began crying "sell" from the outset.
A Glitch in the Financial Matrix: How Heavy Trade Volumes and a 70-Minute Time Lag Wreaked Havoc Upon the New York Stock Exchange [...]
Dow Jones says that unusually heavy trading of the 30 component stocks that make up the Dow caused a 70-minute lag in correctly calculating the value of the index. Their main computer system wasn't getting what it needed to put the "real" numbers up there on the Big Board.
As one might imagine, a 70-minute lag in the era of fast electronic trading is a big problem. Especially on a day when the market is teetering on the precipice of a notably bad move down.
Every second of the trading day, professional and individual investors make big-dollar decisions based on those lights being right. But that wasn't the case starting early in the afternoon.
When Dow Jones figured out what was happening -- they weren't getting the values of the underlying component stocks in a timely manner -- they switched to a backup system that was getting it right. That happened at 2:57 p.m. The rest is history.
In just three minutes the Dow fell by more than 240 points.
Jaws dropped on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and in newsrooms around the country. What was happening? A market crash?
The answers weren't clear, but traders did what they do best: react, and fast.
