Traders on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange have been unable to go about business as usual because of a power outage, one that has halted trading on the floor since around 12:30 PM EDT. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange is an options exchange owned by Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. and its traders have been unable to operate for most of the day today due to what has been described as a “technical glitch.”
Nasdaq describes the glitch as a floorwide outage and has expressed its concern over the unfortunately-timed event, one that comes right as October options are expiring. Expiration events generally cause …read more

While the world of trading securities is meant to be open to everyone and fair to all its participants, at least in a perfect world, critics have argued for a while that many large trading firms had an unfair advantage due to flash orders. These moves allow trading firms to freeze the order of an exchange for as long as half a second, which allows them to get a quick glimpse into the market and adjust their transaction accordingly.
 
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro worried that flash orders could eventually create a “two-tiered market” in which long-term and short-term investors end up …read more