wtf

Whatever happened at around 2:45pm on Thursday, May 6 was definitely interesting for anyone who follows the stock markets closely. I got back in my office after a birthday gathering for a coworker, and the first thing I noticed was that the Canadian utility Fortis (FTS), which is part of my portfolio, was down about 35%!

My first thought was that Google Finance was acting up as I have seen before. Next I noticed that Inter Pipeline Fund (IPL.UN) which I also hold was down by a catastrophic amount as well. After I saw this I quickly browsed over the the Financial Webring Forum where my fellow investors were already chatting about the Fortis situation. I then signed into my account at BMO Investorline to see if I could buy Fortis at $17/share, but the stock was up to $26. The day's low did read around $16 so this made me think that this drop was actually legit which boggled my mind. I then started seeing the reports on Google Finance and the Financial Webring about how this event was erroneous and trades will probably be cancelled. Kinda makes me glad that I don't believe in stop losses.

An interesting video clip to watch is CNBC personality Jim Cramer live seeing Procter & Gamble fall to $45 per share and calling it as a market error.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BQ0-194Igs