The day the Dow died

I’ll be honest with you. I still struggle to understand exactly what was going on in the last scene of Trading Places, but I at least I knew it was entertaining.

Floor trading is like that, apparently, even if you don’t know what’s going on. It is soon to be a relic as more trading is taking place online. The day of the floor trader is numbered.

It was one year ago today that the Dow dropped 1,000 points before it recovered before the close. It turned out to be a mistake because someone entered some numbers wrong in a — and isn’t this ironic? — a computer. But the traders didn’t know that.

This floor trader, who works for a Web site that broadcasts him live each day, provided a great “call” of the disaster, rivaling the greatest of horse racing announcers.

Shortly before the close today, the Dow was up about 35 points, in an entirely non-entertaining session.

(h/t: The Big Picture)