Typo Causes Japanese Stock Market Chaos.

Date: 2005 December 09 07:32

Posted by Azure

We all make mistakes when typing; a lot of our readers have probably sent e-mail to the wrong person or made similar mistakes when inputting data, very few of us will have lost million of pounds with such a slip up. Unfortunately for a Japanese stock trader their error has ended up having massive repercussions.

The trader sold 610,000 shares in J-com for 1 yen each when the trader in fact meant to sell 1 share for 610,000 yen. Japanese trade rules prevented the shares for actually selling at one yen, but they still sold massively under price.

The mistake has highlighted weaknesses in the stock trading system; the Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi has called for new safety measures.