Nasdaq, market makers argue about who will eat losses
(NEWSER) - The technical glitches at Nasdaq that made Facebook's troubled IPO into an even bigger bungle cost four of Wall Street's biggest market makers big time—probably more than $100 million, reports Reuters . Trades are supposed to be honored in milliseconds, but technical problems delayed the social networking giant's debut by 30 minutes and client orders for up to two hours. For example, if an order to sell 10,000 shares was made when Facebook was worth $42 per share, but not processed until the price fell to $39 per share, the market maker would have to make up the difference of $30,000. Brokers and investors are furious; even now, a week after the IPO, some investors are only just finding out their orders were not placed at the prices they thought. More»