In what was one of the craziest ten minutes in stock exchange history, the Dow dropped nearly one thousand points yesterday, suffering what would have been its worst fall in 23 years, before rebounding to recoup most of its losses. According to experts, $700 billion was wiped out in those few minutes. According to the New York Times, shares in Proctor & Gamble, which began at about $62 fell to $39.37 before rebounding nicely to end the day at $63.75.
CNBC, citing multiple sources, reported that the drop may have been precipitated by a "fat finger" trader, who depressed the B button instead of its neighboring M button; triggering the plunge by flooding the market with Proctor & Gamble shares worth sixteen billion, instead of sixteen million, dollars.
It is too early to tell if these reports are factual, and officials at Citigroup, where the trade is alleged to have originated, assert that they had no evidence of Citi's involvement with erroneous trade action.
Thankfully, everyone walked away relatively unscathed from the biggest financial nail biter of the year. The fast-paced action has slacked off and the Monday morning quarterbacks enter the fray—as do the couch rabbis looking to spin a few new sermons...
Here's one of my thoughts on what happened yesterday.
Never Too Late
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad Chassidic movement, is said to have engaged in conversation a talented bright young man who had strayed far from the ways of the Torah, about his large, swift horse. "Tell me young man," said the Rebbe, "why do you ride such a great horse?"
"Well," replied the young man, "the swifter the horse, the faster I arrive at my destination."
"What happens," rejoined the Rebbe, "if you take a wrong turn, will you not move quickly away from your destination?"
The man thought for a moment and replied, "Indeed, I would, but once I realize my mistake I can turn around and make even better headway in return."
The Rebbe was not talking about the horse, but about its rider. He was asking the young man why he chose to live in the fast lane. The young man explained that he liked to move quickly and enjoy life. The Rebbe asked, what happens if you make inappropriate life decisions—your swiftness then will lead you farther away even faster! After reflecting for a moment the man replied that in that case he would indeed turn around and direct his talents and energy to repentance and return. Legend has it that the young man did indeed return to the path of Torah.
This story comes to mind when reflecting on the market's quick recovery. Indeed, allegedly one trader made a mistake, and a huge one at that. But once the market realized what had occurred it applied its unbounded energy and corrected itself.
Never should we imagine that we have reached a point of no return. There'll be a tomorrow and the sun will rise again. Take heart, for tomorrow you can channel your energy on fixing that which you broke today.
Better yet, make like the market and don't wait for tomorrow. Get started today.
