May 18, 2012

Trading Issues with Facebook [UPDATED]

[UPDATE 6/10/12]
I've neglected to update this post, so here goes. The following weekend of the FB IPO, my trades were luckily cancelled. I was part of the herd of sheep that didn't get slaughtered. However, looking back, the whole FB Nasdaq trade debacle really screwed over all stakeholders: retail traders, brokers, institutions, and FB. Lesson learned: do what it takes to not be part of the heard of sheep! Anyway, good luck to y'all and best wishes.

[UPDATE 11:44AM]

There is a huge demand for FB stock, but the problem is with Nasdaq, marketmakers, and brokers. Orders are not going through. People who put in orders this morning are having their orders stuck in limbo, which means their cash is also stuck. You cannot cancel these orders, nor can you get updates whether the order was executed.

Possibly millions? of orders are in stuck causing widespread confusion and frustration. The bottom line is that there are people out there unable to trade Facebook stock right now. Whether or not Nasdaq cancels these orders, or screws over retail customers at a ridiculous execution price, is what I want to know.


[UPDATE 10AM]

Just got through to Zecco, and it looks like many brokerages are not getting updates from the marketmaker on orders that may, or may not have been filled. This is due to the high volume going through, so they cannot cancel or modify existing orders. You will just have to wait and see.




9:35AM Zecco Trading is having issues with either Nasdaq or having issues within their own servers for trading Facebook stock. For now, I cannot cancel a FB order, nor is my FB order going through.

Phonelines are full, and no news on their website....

Update from Zecco: "Extremely high traffic related to the IPO activity. - Due to extremely high traffic related to today’s IPO activity customers may be experiencing slower response times on the Zecco website. In addition, there are general market issues causing delays in order processing from the exchanges and market centers. We are actively monitoring the situation so the proper user experience can be restored as soon as possible."

Facebook IPO Delay

I'm waiting like the rest of you for the Facebook IPO. There is speculation that there's too much volume for Nasdaq to handle? You tell me.

Anyway, I'm excitedly sitting here anticipating the opening price. This will be one for the history books! Good luck to you!

Update 8:30AM
According to the WSJ


"Traders said they were having trouble changing or canceling orders they had submitted to Nasdaq’s queue starting at 7:30 a.m. Traders said the orders were accepted normally, but the usual process for canceling or altering an order wasn’t accepted, suggesting problems with the queue. One trader said it wasn’t surprising given the number of institutions involved, but signaled reasons why trading was delayed. A representative for Nasdaq wasn’t immediately available for comment."

This morning, I ran into issues canceling an open order. It took several minutes for the order to finally go through, which could mean that there is so much retail demand that Nasdaq is having issues meeting the demand.