I hate to join the conspiracy fringe of ET, but isn't this COCO thing just a little too convenient? Let's see, the day before there is a wild ride in CECO, based on some dubious whistleblower. Daytraders mint money. Friday, in a thin, slow market, there is an unprecedented software screwup that causes a similar break in COCO. Of course every daytrader in the country is all over it. Nasdaq manages to make the CME look responsible and professional in its handling of the situation. Then the immediate spin control cycle takes over. We are informed that it was the fault of daytraders using....gasp, ECN's.
I can hear the arguments now. "This is just what happens when the professional marketmakers are not allowed to do their job." "The integrity of the markets is threatened by the uncontrolled access provided through ECN's." "This would never happen on the NYSE because there is a cop directing traffic." "Mom and pop investors are paying for the irresponsible activities of these daytraders."
I hope there is a Congressional investigation into this. Sadly, I don't trust the SEC to do the job. They've proved through their inaction in other scandals that they don't have the small guy's interests in the forefront. At a minimum there should be some consistent rules for handling these situations. Nasdaq has shown it is spectacularly incompetent to be making such decisions.
I can hear the arguments now. "This is just what happens when the professional marketmakers are not allowed to do their job." "The integrity of the markets is threatened by the uncontrolled access provided through ECN's." "This would never happen on the NYSE because there is a cop directing traffic." "Mom and pop investors are paying for the irresponsible activities of these daytraders."
I hope there is a Congressional investigation into this. Sadly, I don't trust the SEC to do the job. They've proved through their inaction in other scandals that they don't have the small guy's interests in the forefront. At a minimum there should be some consistent rules for handling these situations. Nasdaq has shown it is spectacularly incompetent to be making such decisions.
