Saturday, July 02, 2005

Bad keystroke leads to $251 million stock buy

A Taiwan stock trader mistakenly bought $251 million worth of shares with a misstroke of her computer keyboard, meaning her company is looking at a paper loss of more than $12 million and she is looking for a new job. The trader with Fubon Securities miskeyed in a small order from Merrill Lynch on Monday. Fubon said that the trader was unfamiliar with new computer systems and will be fired. The company will also examine its procedures of placing orders, it said.