WHAT’S HAPPENING: Knight Capital is the trading firm that had a technical problem Wednesday that briefly threw off stock trading. Knight has been under pressure since then, working to convince clients that it has everything under control. It’s reportedly considering whether it needs to sell itself.
WHY THE BIG FUSS? Knight’s blunder is part of a bigger, thorny debate about the merits of stock trading being performed by superfast computers and complicated algorithms, which now account for far more trading volume than floor traders in colorful jackets. Previous episodes have rattled investors, such as the 2010 “flash crash,” where a computer problem sent stocks down wildly.
Recommended Stories
Print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account
Digital subscriber? Click here to login/register your account.