Nasdaq halts all trading
Nasdaq boss blames three-hour halt on outsiders
Nasdaq boss Robert Greifeld has alluded to outside parties to explain a three-hour trading freeze on Thursday.
"We have to be aware that the other person will not always act in the proper way," he told news channel CNBC, admitting that the stock exchange's systems needed to be more robust.
The chief executive said the suspension prevented computerised professional traders getting an unfair information advantage over other investors.
Trading halted from 12:14 to 15:25 EST.
Trading on the other US exchanges was uninterrupted.
'Defensive driving'
Many professional traders have data fed directly into their computers from the stock exchange, while other investors rely on a "consolidated feed" that combines data from all 13 of the US stock exchanges.
Mr Greifeld said Thursday's technical glitch affected the consolidated feed, meaning professional traders might receive sensitive trade data earlier than others.
He specifically mentioned high-frequency traders - financial firms that buy and sell thousands of times a second, using computers to take advantage of tiny price discrepancies between the different stock exchanges.
"We're deeply disappointed with what happened yesterday. We aspire for perfection. We want to get to 100% up-time," he said, while conceding that he could not promise that there would never be a problem.
The chief executive said there was a need for more "defensive driving" - by which he meant that the exchange needed to be able to react better to the behaviour of other financial market participants.
"We have 13 different exchanges, we have hundreds of market participants, we are all interconnected in a number of fundamental ways."
Here we go again. And if we think that it is going to stop, then we deserve all what we are going to get
It is not just Thompson Reuters that is selling milliseconds
And if we take a deeper look, it is a rule of thumb not an exception
It is not just Thompson Reuters that is selling milliseconds And if we take a deeper look, it is a rule of thumb not an exception
Wonder how much for a millisecond at Nasdaq 
Greifeld statement: Investors left baffled at Nasdaq shutdown
Nasdaq's chief executive has broken his silence about the stock exchange's unprecedented three-hour outage on Thursday, but his television interview left investors baffled as to the cause of the shutdown.
Robert Greifeld provided more details about the glitch that halted trading of some stocks, including Facebook and Apple, across 13 major exchanges.
In an interview with American news channel CNBC he revealed that the exchange had taken only 30 minutes to fix the software problem. Greifeld said the New York exchange intentionally kept the service shut down for hours afterwards in order to perform technical checks.
The primary complaint from many traders was that Nasdaq did not keep them informed. Arthur Levitt, former chairman of the securities and exchange commission, said: "The worst part of all of this is the lack of disclosure. The lack of transparency. This is inexcusable."
Greifeld bristled at Levitt's words, saying: "I have to disagree in a quite emotional way with that statement." He said the exchange provided updates to major investment banks, investors and other exchanges, if not the press or public. "We have to focus on the operational aspects of the problem while the problem is transpiring."
Howard Lindzon, CEO of social media investing site StockTwits, said Greifeld's explanation left him unconvinced.
"I think the market is so complex and the machinery is so complex and . . . I don't think there's anything you can do any more. It's so botched." He added: "They can't be shamed into fixing the system."
Greifeld made oblique references to an external problem that may have shaken Nasdaq's system.
"I think where we have to get better is what I call defensive driving," he said. "Defensive driving means what do you do when another part of the ecosystem, another player, has some bad event that triggers something in your system?"
Some could not square Greifeld's explanation of the Nasdaq software glitch with his references to "another player".
Michael Driscoll, a former Bear Stearns trader who teaches at Adelphi University in New York, said computer errors were the price of doing business in the modern world. "It's going to happen again," he said. "It's the nature of computers."
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After halting trading for about three hours Thursday afternoon due to a technical glitch, the Nasdaq OMX exchange laid out a plan to resume trading.
Trading on Atlantic American (AAME) began first at 3:00 p.m ET, following a 15-minute quote only period. All other securities are expected to begin trading at 3:25 p.m. ET, also following a 15-minute quote only period.
During the quote only period, which it typically uses during initial public offerings, Nasdaq will accept buy and sell orders, and investors will also be able to cancel orders.
Nasdaq said it would not be canceling open orders, but said customers who wish to cancel their orders can do so, and customers who wish to not participate in the re-opening of trading should cancel their orders before trading resumes.
The Nasdaq is home to more than 2,700 stocks, particularly technology giants such as Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500). Trading in Nasdaq-listed options were also halted.
SEC spokesman John Nester said the agency is "monitoring the situation" and that it is "in close contact with the exchanges."
Trading was halted around 12:14 p.m. ET due to issues with "quote dissemination," the exchange said in alerts sent out to traders.
The New York Stock Exchange said it halted all Nasdaq securities at the request of the Nasdaq. The BATS exchange also said it disabled trading in Nasdaq-listed securities.
The trading glitch could be another blow to investor confidence, which has been rattled over the years by the Flash Crash in 2010, Facebook's botched IPO, and more recently, a fat finger trade affecting China's stock market.
"We know machines run the show, but we're beginning to see glitches more and more frequently," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research. "That doesn't help overall confidence among investors."
Broader market: Despite troubles at the Nasdaq, the broader stock market moved higher Thursday on positive global economic news snapping the market's recent losing streak.
The Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 rose modestly. The Dow has ended lower for six straight days, its worst stretch since July 2012. The Nasdaq was up nearly 1% before the trading halt.
Positive economic data from both China and Europe gave investors some optimism. European markets moved solidly higher, while Asian markets ended mixed.
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A survey of European purchasing managers pointed to signs that the economy may be stabilizing there. Better-than-expected data from Chinese factories gave glimmers of hope for Asia and the broader global economy.
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