Apple stock hit by brief mini crash of over 6 percent before rebounding
Apple shares on Monday saw its most precipitous decline in three months after opening to unusually high trade volume, shedding as much as $40 billion in market value before rebounding to end the day down more than three percent.
Shares of AAPL opened the day at $118.76 and hit a low point of $111.27 just before 9:51 a.m. Eastern after a furious minute of trading that saw the stock dip 3 percent. Over 6.7 million trades were conducted over the short one-minute period, reports Reuters. Trading ranged from $111.27 to $119.25, while Apple ended the day at $115.10 with a $675 billion market cap.
While the exact cause of AAPL's brief "mini crash" is unknown, stock market experts believe high frequency trading algorithms were triggered earlier today, the publication says.
"When you see that kind of price action that is simply algos running stocks," said Steve Hammer, founder of HFT Alert, a firm that monitors algorithmic trading.
According to Hammer, trade volume of some 300 stocks spiked shortly after markets opened, an indication of larger holdings firms initiating sell programs. By the closing bell, nearly 85 million shares of AAPL had switched hands compared to a three-month average volume of 58.6 million.
Other market analysts, however, say blaming HFT at this time is a bit premature and not representative of complex market dynamics. For example, tumbling commodity shares like oil may have spurred traders to sell off Apple and other holdings to free up liquidity.
Apple stock recently reached a milestone when its market capitalization breached $700 billion last week, jumping more than $40 billion in two weeks of trading.
Shares of AAPL opened the day at $118.76 and hit a low point of $111.27 just before 9:51 a.m. Eastern after a furious minute of trading that saw the stock dip 3 percent. Over 6.7 million trades were conducted over the short one-minute period, reports Reuters. Trading ranged from $111.27 to $119.25, while Apple ended the day at $115.10 with a $675 billion market cap.
While the exact cause of AAPL's brief "mini crash" is unknown, stock market experts believe high frequency trading algorithms were triggered earlier today, the publication says.
"When you see that kind of price action that is simply algos running stocks," said Steve Hammer, founder of HFT Alert, a firm that monitors algorithmic trading.
According to Hammer, trade volume of some 300 stocks spiked shortly after markets opened, an indication of larger holdings firms initiating sell programs. By the closing bell, nearly 85 million shares of AAPL had switched hands compared to a three-month average volume of 58.6 million.
Other market analysts, however, say blaming HFT at this time is a bit premature and not representative of complex market dynamics. For example, tumbling commodity shares like oil may have spurred traders to sell off Apple and other holdings to free up liquidity.
Apple stock recently reached a milestone when its market capitalization breached $700 billion last week, jumping more than $40 billion in two weeks of trading.
Comments
Automated algorithms.
There's been plenty of guessing and speculation as to the exact reason for the sell off.
One interesting explanation that I read had something to do with big traders needing to meet margin calls on tumbling oil, and they sold off AAPL to raise some funds.
How is it that Microsoft was up almost 2% today when most tech stocks were in the red? Is Satya Nadella getting the benefit of the doubt Tim Cook never got after Steve Jobs died?
They say that retail was down this Black Friday, but maybe MS is immune and they're selling tons of Surfaces?
I am only joking of course, and I bet you that Apple's going to have a killer holiday season. Apple is super strong now, flash crash or not.
the vast majority of stock trades on HFT. The reporting of stock prices for decades have been worthless indicators of anything, including the value and quality of a company. It's been technical trading for 40 years, based upon psychobabble theories. The psychobabble has now been incorporated into psycho-algorithms (psychorithms). But, it's still babble.
How is it that Microsoft was up almost 2% today when most tech stocks were in the red? Is Satya Nadella getting the benefit of the doubt Tim Cook never got after Steve Jobs died?
Because no investment firm has any Microsoft stock anymore?
You can't sell if you don't own any.
I actually got some at $95.08 in pre-market on Oct 21, and it would've been $94 or a wee bit less if I had realized sooner I was making my orders in the regular session area of Scottrade instead of the pre-market area.
How is it that Microsoft was up almost 2% today when most tech stocks were in the red? Is Satya Nadella getting the benefit of the doubt Tim Cook never got after Steve Jobs died?
Ballmer left some big shoes to fill, but they were clownshoes.
The Stock Market: Based on nothing. Existing only to sustain the 1%
Cupertino sneezes, Wall Street say gesundheit!
Fixed.
I actually got some at $95.08 in pre-market on Oct 21, and it would've been $94 or a wee bit less if I had realized sooner I was making my orders in the regular session area of Scottrade instead of the pre-market area.
That's a pretty good price, at least for the past few months. I assume that you're still holding them?
I think that some charts don't take into account pre/after market prices, so the chart that I was looking at probably falls under that category.
Apple's beta is greater than that of the general market, but that can be pretty much said of any major issue. There's more volatility in an individual stock than an index comprised of hundreds of components.
In today's world of automated trading and computer algorithms, it's a given than price volatility for any given stock will be more pronounced than the indices.
Today was rough for major indexes. Not sure this is actually true but as an observer and small-time stakeholder, AAPL seems to move in the direction of the market overall but the swing in both directions more severe.
The latter is not true, otherwise AAPL would basically track the major indices since gains and losses would balance each other out. Or more specifically, AAPL drops less than it rises.
AAPL outperforms the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100. That means their downward swings are less than their upward swings.
Originally Posted by Apple ][
The article says "Apple shares on Monday saw its most precipitous decline in three months..." It's the one-day decline that hasn't happened in 3 months, not the price level. That's pretty clear from the text.
The article says "Apple shares on Monday saw its most precipitous decline in three months..." It's the one-day decline that hasn't happened in 3 months, not the price level. That's pretty clear from the text.
It's been changed.
My cynical interpretation is that someone started this deliberately, selling a bunch of stock and setting off a chain reaction, and then bought back in at the down limit.
Apple is all out, supporting Product RED. It even ensured that its stocks go into the Red for a bit.
Then, as usual, Carl Ichan spoiled the party by buying more and more and propped up the value again!