Global Brokerage Inc. (GLBR)

[Gnar_Profits]

FROM WIKI On August 1, 2012, Knight Capital deployed untested software code to a production environment which contained obsolete function. The incident happened due to a technician forgetting to copy the new Retail Liquidity Program (RLP) code to one of the eight SMARS computer servers, which was Knight's automated routing system for equity orders. RLP code repurposed a flag that was formerly used to activate the old function known as 'Power Peg'. Power Peg was designed to move stock prices higher and lower in order to verify the behavior of trading algorithms in a controlled environment.[12] Therefore, orders sent with the repurposed flag to the eighth server triggered the defective Power Peg code still present on that server.[13] When released into production, Knight's trading activities caused a major disruption in the prices of 148 companies listed at the New York Stock Exchange, thus, for example, shares of Wizzard Software Corporation went from $3.50 to $14.76. For the 212 incoming parent orders that were processed by the defective Power Peg code, Knight Capital sent millions of child orders, resulting in 4 million executions in 154 stocks for more than 397 million shares in approximately 45 minutes.[13] This caused Knight Capital's stock price to collapse. Knight Capital took a pre-tax loss of $440 million sending shares lower by over 70% from before the announcement. The nature of the Knight Capital's unusual trading activity was described as a "technology breakdown".[14][15]

On Sunday, August 5 the company managed to raise around $400 million from half a dozen investors led by Jefferies in an attempt to stay in business after the trading error. Jefferies' CEO, Richard Handler and Executive Committee Chair Brian Friedman structured and led the rescue and Jefferies purchased $125 million of the $400 million investment and became Knight's largest shareholder. [2]. The financing would be in the form of convertible securities, bonds that turn into equity in the company at a fixed price in the future. [16]

The incident was embarrassing for Knight CEO Thomas Joyce, who was an outspoken critic of Nasdaq's handling of Facebook's IPO.[17] On the same day the company's stock plunged 33 percent, to $3.39; by the next day 75 percent of Knight's equity value had been erased.[18]

I'm interested in hearing opinions here. I do see some similarities but I also see Knight's downfall as a gross and embarrassing negligence. I'm curious on everyones thoughts on this as it is an interesting discussion.