The spammer responsible for the onslaught of bogus quotes has been identified and fined. According to Nasdaq, the culprit was Citadel. Citadel again! (we just wrote about another incident involving Citadel last week).
The date of the Nasdaq document naming Citadel as the offender is June 16, 2014 - which is almost 2 months ago. The question we have, since this hasn't been reported:
where have all the financial reporters gone?
The second question we have:
Read the rest of this update (too much to fit here).why is that paragraph (image above) missing from FINRA's document of the same events?
During regular market trading hours on February 13, 2014, we found 633 extreme high frequency trading (HFT) quote spamming events. We define an event when 1 symbol has 6,000 or more quotes and less than 300 trades in 1 second of time. Events like these are rare, usually only a few appear in a trading day. There were 633 such events on February 13.
In the 135 affected symbols, there was a total of 11.2 million quotes during the events compared to 100 million quotes over the entire trading day. Which means that 11.3% of these symbol's quotes were from a HFT quote spamming algo. In some stocks, the percentage of HFT quote spam was much higher: in 12 stocks it was over 50%.
The first event appeared at 13:31:17 and the last event at 15:27:00. The highest number of quotes in one symbol in one second was 37,306. Because several seconds had more than 1 symbol meeting the criteria, the highest quote spam during 1 second was 58,902 quotes.
The chart below shows other instances of high quote spamming events (more than 6,000 quotes in 1 stock in 1 second) for all NMS stocks since 2009. The dots are sized to the number of quotes in an event second. The red color indicates when the number of quotes in a second exceeded 25,000.
See this page for more details.
Percent Spam 11.3% Spam Quotes 11,263,962 Total Quotes 99,928,706 Peak Second 58,902 Peak 1-Symbol Second 37,306 Events 633 Symbols 135 First Event 13:31:17 Last Event 15:27:00
Listed Exg Symbol %Spam Spam Quotes Total Quotes Max Second Seconds First Last Trades Total Trades %Trades NYSE ABT 44.0% 450,907 1,025,488 37,271 17 14:35:28 15:01:58 46 37,137 0.1% NYSE ABX 0.4% 7,093 1,890,300 7,093 1 14:19:01 14:19:01 67 86,625 0.1% NQ-GM ACTG 61.6% 79,626 129,188 24,862 5 14:51:40 14:51:44 6 3,033 0.2% NYSE AEE 18.3% 49,173 268,758 36,122 3 14:50:18 14:50:20 2 10,317 0.0% NYSE AEP 7.6% 38,637 510,096 22,305 3 14:29:56 15:20:49 26 17,553 0.1% NYSE AIG 8.1% 56,871 699,415 30,944 3 14:31:37 14:31:50 16 48,594 0.0% NYSE AMTD 47.0% 333,461 710,196 37,306 11 13:51:16 14:19:05 32 18,836 0.2% NQ-GM APOL 35.8% 135,489 377,943 34,470 11 15:06:39 15:22:39 26 13,582 0.2% NYSE ATI 42.7% 163,786 383,800 36,389 6 13:33:46 13:37:55 29 14,533 0.2% NYSE BAX 40.4% 126,453 313,193 34,603 5 13:57:53 13:57:57 11 15,954 0.1% NYSE BCE 80.5% 627,679 779,337 22,187 32 14:55:25 14:56:48 2 4,578 0.0% NYSE BMR 15.6% 21,523 137,841 13,087 2 14:37:27 15:07:15 63 5,839 1.1% NYSE BRFS 13.5% 32,568 240,360 19,839 2 13:39:54 13:39:55 0 10,248 0.0% NQ-GM BRKR 61.9% 106,039 171,352 28,951 6 15:01:58 15:02:04 2 4,725 0.0% NYSE BVN 18.0% 42,962 238,108 15,538 4 15:01:46 15:03:23 22 12,807 0.2% NYSE CBS 24.3% 217,723 894,440 29,174 12 13:55:21 15:23:06 118 71,987 0.2% NQ-GM CDNS 17.9% 37,444 209,759 16,191 3 14:58:48 14:58:50 87 10,102 0.9% NYSE CHK 1.3% 7,259 578,558 7,259 1 13:46:58 13:46:58 17 40,701 0.0% NQ-GM CMCSA 1.9% 70,671 3,696,637 16,611 7 13:58:55 15:08:05 235 357,182 0.1% NQ-GM CMCSK 10.2% 103,323 1,015,682 24,766 7 14:07:32 15:05:15 304 56,075 0.5% NYSE CNX 8.0% 20,796 260,568 11,487 2 15:23:39 15:23:40 8 17,172 0.0% NYSE COG 2.7% 14,447 536,499 14,447 1 15:09:56 15:09:56 12 49,886 0.0% NYSE CPB 6.2% 11,587 188,358 11,587 1 15:01:40 15:01:40 1 16,617 0.0% NYSE CPN 32.5% 253,712 779,870 29,483 10 14:25:53 14:46:19 106 46,861 0.2% NQ-GM CSCO 1.7% 28,657 1,671,954 28,657 1 14:23:23 14:23:23 8 296,709 0.0% NYSE CTL 1.3% 7,389 552,273 7,389 1 13:31:17 13:31:17 137 64,951 0.2% NQ-GM CTRP 12.6% 69,912 552,978 26,726 3 15:24:30 15:24:32 4 124,030 0.0% NYSE CUBE 20.6% 27,947 135,716 27,947 1 14:16:18 14:16:18 0 6,442 0.0% NYSE CVS 18.3% 148,216 809,689 32,036 6 14:14:58 14:19:15 17 36,102 0.0% NYSE CVX 28.2% 517,779 1,837,251 37,120 17 14:51:05 15:23:16 2 36,643 0.0% NYSE CX 6.4% 45,191 704,287 18,164 3 13:45:51 13:45:53 3 27,733 0.0% NYSE DG 28.9% 85,583 295,828 28,143 5 14:44:44 15:27:00 62 27,277 0.2% NYSE DHI 1.1% 6,550 577,793 6,550 1 14:52:23 14:52:23 7 30,040 0.0% NYSE DO 20.5% 34,741 169,729 14,400 3 14:59:37 15:08:06 13 14,013 0.1% NYSE DPS 14.5% 29,146 201,113 29,146 1 14:46:38 14:46:38 2 21,975 0.0% NQ-GM EBAY 3.5% 39,541 1,126,288 21,778 3 13:47:52 14:52:39 57 61,103 0.1% NYSE ENI 34.8% 50,607 145,457 32,280 2 14:59:57 14:59:58 1 3,860 0.0% NY-Arca EWZ 3.1% 55,840 1,783,171 25,320 3 14:06:09 14:06:14 178 59,569 0.3% NYSE EXC 3.0% 13,193 437,660 13,193 1 14:44:24 14:44:24 194 38,837 0.5% NQ-GM FAST 31.2% 66,486 212,801 18,574 6 15:16:44 15:16:49 3 15,188 0.0% NY-Arca FEZ 15.8% 71,004 450,809 32,593 3 15:20:18 15:20:20 67 4,823 1.4% NYSE FIG 11.3% 10,915 96,321 10,915 1 14:17:09 14:17:09 7 13,930 0.1% NYSE FIO 13.3% 20,880 157,002 20,880 1 15:17:04 15:17:04 0 6,329 0.0% NQ-GM FOX 1.4% 6,357 451,031 6,357 1 14:27:55 14:27:55 29 25,963 0.1% NQ-GM FOXA 2.1% 15,746 759,387 9,456 2 14:17:59 14:18:00 13 63,112 0.0% NQ-GM FTNT 58.9% 244,950 416,160 18,863 17 14:17:26 15:07:53 77 12,910 0.6% NQ-GM FULT 7.2% 6,488 90,128 6,488 1 13:52:07 13:52:07 1 4,703 0.0% NY-Arca FXI 4.9% 53,978 1,092,375 19,102 3 14:41:51 14:41:53 150 49,429 0.3% NQ-GM GILD 1.0% 7,046 700,951 7,046 1 14:11:10 14:11:10 1 58,168 0.0% NYSE GM 1.2% 16,874 1,355,964 16,874 1 14:02:32 14:02:32 83 99,382 0.1% NYSE GME 5.4% 14,951 278,846 14,951 1 14:35:11 14:35:11 26 23,279 0.1% NYSE GPS 18.5% 124,265 673,521 19,955 9 14:11:33 15:26:13 8 27,544 0.0% NQ-GM GT 3.3% 28,175 843,730 18,122 2 14:25:17 14:25:18 2 88,003 0.0% NQ-GM HA 11.5% 12,670 110,190 12,670 1 14:05:19 14:05:19 12 4,636 0.3% NYSE HAL 0.9% 10,367 1,205,580 10,367 1 14:23:50 14:23:50 2 44,454 0.0% NYSE HD 35.8% 339,212 948,305 30,037 16 13:59:00 14:37:56 16 42,530 0.0% NYSE HES 28.5% 115,912 406,589 28,214 5 14:55:23 14:55:27 13 17,990 0.1% NQ-GM HOLX 31.6% 95,846 303,652 22,158 5 15:00:00 15:16:36 18 17,906 0.1% NQ-GM HTLD 57.6% 95,187 165,359 25,630 6 14:32:04 14:32:09 1 4,786 0.0% NYSE HTZ 1.2% 7,552 639,637 7,552 1 14:28:22 14:28:22 35 40,584 0.1% NYSE HUN 15.8% 86,762 550,775 23,934 5 13:35:15 15:03:52 1 24,887 0.0% NQ-GM INTC 1.2% 7,632 624,473 7,632 1 13:45:24 13:45:24 33 75,029 0.0% NY-Arca ITB 1.8% 8,083 439,663 8,083 1 13:58:04 13:58:04 48 12,221 0.4% NYSE IVZ 5.4% 21,017 392,497 21,017 1 14:52:25 14:52:25 0 18,520 0.0% NY-Arca IWM 1.5% 76,154 5,102,458 19,538 7 13:46:45 14:34:13 141 133,872 0.1% NQ-GM JASO 59.6% 148,855 249,945 18,638 9 14:27:23 14:27:39 3 7,431 0.0% NYSE JBL 31.5% 116,385 369,781 17,024 9 15:06:09 15:08:17 3 11,849 0.0% NQ-GM LKQ 56.0% 175,718 313,731 20,878 10 13:57:39 15:20:50 33 14,335 0.2% NQ-GM LLTC 35.1% 150,238 428,311 26,702 11 13:35:20 14:52:46 139 21,242 0.7% NYSE LPX 18.4% 121,770 661,560 32,166 7 13:56:13 14:19:53 79 42,150 0.2% NQ-GM LRCX 8.3% 16,887 202,355 16,887 1 14:46:55 14:46:55 0 26,206 0.0% NYSE LUK 10.0% 14,630 146,352 14,630 1 15:26:50 15:26:50 1 7,589 0.0% NQ-GM LULU 28.0% 66,234 236,732 23,953 3 14:03:56 14:03:58 2 27,067 0.0% NYSE LVLT 17.4% 36,361 209,480 24,665 2 14:51:12 14:51:13 21 13,923 0.2% NYSE M 4.6% 16,986 369,166 16,986 1 15:00:55 15:00:55 16 15,894 0.1% NYSE MBI 22.6% 101,281 448,146 21,147 7 14:00:30 14:05:29 30 22,203 0.1% NYSE MCD 14.5% 77,339 532,093 30,298 3 14:52:28 14:52:30 5 27,218 0.0% NQ-GM MENT 11.0% 10,831 98,104 10,831 1 13:51:24 13:51:24 1 5,288 0.0% NYSE MET 3.9% 20,445 519,037 20,445 1 14:57:32 14:57:32 1 39,897 0.0% NYSE MHR 52.2% 195,564 374,463 17,658 13 13:41:18 14:39:27 65 9,207 0.7% NYSE MOS 4.4% 21,998 500,706 14,194 2 14:33:55 15:11:24 3 22,781 0.0% NYSE MS 2.5% 31,025 1,248,777 19,036 2 14:52:23 14:52:24 20 67,928 0.0% NYSE NBR 5.4% 25,944 482,974 10,986 3 13:53:45 14:40:49 94 25,418 0.4% NYSE NEM 4.7% 29,553 624,897 13,950 3 14:17:22 14:34:27 12 54,175 0.0% NYSE NFX 8.2% 23,536 288,287 9,065 3 13:58:04 14:42:26 65 19,440 0.3% NYSE NLSN 34.1% 143,276 420,360 30,286 6 14:04:09 14:04:14 9 19,736 0.0% NYSE NOK 11.0% 44,745 406,894 29,257 2 14:21:23 14:21:24 59 29,826 0.2% NYSE NRG 36.4% 214,929 590,358 24,146 13 14:04:00 14:52:24 141 24,323 0.6% NQ-GM NTAP 20.6% 153,364 745,566 24,837 10 14:05:20 15:26:05 144 66,764 0.2% NYSE NWL 3.3% 7,014 209,583 7,014 1 15:05:34 15:05:34 12 12,134 0.1% NY-Arca OEF 13.9% 66,070 476,404 29,674 3 14:40:44 14:40:46 6 3,154 0.2% NYSE PBI 2.6% 9,377 363,884 9,377 1 15:23:00 15:23:00 26 17,619 0.1% NQ-GM PDCO 60.0% 117,520 195,719 20,322 8 14:18:54 14:57:24 37 8,119 0.5% NQ-GM PENN 77.9% 254,477 326,473 17,630 16 13:32:49 13:33:04 12 8,600 0.1% NYSE PEP 7.9% 61,377 776,319 20,047 4 13:51:19 15:14:54 47 70,022 0.1% NYSE PIR 9.9% 9,640 97,807 9,640 1 14:00:53 14:00:53 42 7,097 0.6% NQ-GM QCOM 17.2% 274,172 1,597,651 29,999 15 13:49:23 14:59:57 50 49,185 0.1% NY-Arca QLD 0.4% 9,379 2,551,632 9,379 1 14:28:33 14:28:33 30 19,268 0.2% NQ-GM QQQ 0.3% 17,017 5,404,390 17,017 1 14:03:39 14:03:39 1 71,221 0.0% NYSE RAD 27.6% 137,723 498,629 30,472 6 15:05:37 15:05:42 159 29,569 0.5% NQ-GM ROST 9.0% 17,801 198,830 10,331 2 13:57:39 13:57:41 3 12,087 0.0% NQ-GM RRD 53.1% 164,420 309,907 29,508 7 14:32:03 14:53:06 78 11,623 0.7% NQ-GM SBUX 6.3% 36,118 571,980 21,914 2 13:59:43 13:59:44 1 31,367 0.0% NYSE SCI 4.5% 14,095 311,592 14,095 1 14:05:07 14:05:07 25 19,967 0.1% NQ-GM SCSS 18.8% 25,216 134,058 13,689 2 14:13:56 14:13:57 1 5,857 0.0% NYSE SDRL 8.5% 28,927 340,251 21,519 2 14:42:35 14:42:36 14 25,546 0.1% NYSE SE 53.3% 384,239 720,802 29,898 15 14:09:03 14:09:24 7 15,493 0.0% NYSE SLB 9.0% 97,207 1,085,245 25,758 7 14:51:45 15:26:29 11 33,893 0.0% NYSE SLW 2.1% 20,135 947,104 11,907 2 13:41:38 14:12:00 16 29,408 0.1% NQ-GM SNTA 8.6% 10,878 126,688 10,878 1 13:53:31 13:53:31 34 10,423 0.3% NYSE SO 6.1% 22,779 374,949 15,502 2 14:52:40 14:52:41 0 25,644 0.0% NY-Arca SPY 0.1% 15,125 10,237,791 8,269 2 14:30:49 15:15:23 65 277,315 0.0% NYSE ST 22.3% 30,433 136,439 19,119 2 15:24:59 15:25:00 30 8,551 0.4% NYSE SUNE 30.3% 153,971 507,413 24,196 11 13:48:09 14:00:07 36 39,715 0.1% NYSE SWC 35.5% 71,343 201,019 27,523 4 14:30:48 14:30:51 6 6,387 0.1% NYSE SWFT 27.8% 83,158 299,191 16,318 7 14:29:00 15:07:08 52 17,842 0.3% NYSE TJX 2.0% 9,320 462,142 9,320 1 13:59:00 13:59:00 2 22,040 0.0% NYSE TLM 9.6% 29,450 305,217 19,947 2 15:01:17 15:01:18 21 10,273 0.2% NYSE TSN 11.0% 38,831 353,187 20,663 3 14:26:00 14:52:42 46 24,475 0.2% NYSE TWX 22.8% 134,910 592,185 28,410 7 15:15:59 15:26:52 5 34,336 0.0% NYSE UDR 63.3% 527,983 834,550 29,400 22 14:27:23 14:56:13 146 13,137 1.1% NYSE UN 10.2% 35,521 347,228 20,668 2 13:32:15 13:32:32 0 5,859 0.0% NQ-GM URBN 34.2% 78,328 229,280 21,830 5 14:08:24 14:08:28 24 11,693 0.2% NYSE USB 1.0% 7,758 746,498 7,758 1 14:28:35 14:28:35 0 24,525 0.0% NYSE VLO 7.7% 45,673 592,812 22,338 3 14:55:37 15:06:49 24 45,111 0.1% NY-Arca VNQ 7.8% 48,948 625,820 16,511 3 15:02:22 15:02:24 0 15,002 0.0% NY-Arca VXX 1.2% 36,553 3,158,142 19,164 2 15:12:33 15:12:34 72 142,405 0.1% NYSE WAG 4.3% 35,581 818,080 19,299 2 15:20:21 15:20:22 56 66,801 0.1% NQ-GM WETF 19.1% 40,985 214,469 18,828 3 14:49:31 15:10:50 36 13,993 0.3% NQ-GM WOOF 61.9% 120,709 194,903 35,796 6 14:55:15 14:56:25 14 6,307 0.2% NY-Arca XHB 2.0% 17,790 899,558 17,790 1 14:19:41 14:19:41 4 8,674 0.0% NY-Arca XLE 0.7% 17,010 2,431,582 10,891 2 14:52:23 14:52:24 25 43,049 0.1% NY-Arca XLI 4.4% 69,313 1,563,070 18,721 5 13:39:54 14:21:38 20 30,327 0.1% NQ-GM XOMA 51.2% 129,124 252,187 17,849 8 14:28:22 14:28:29 1 4,341 0.0% NQ-GM ZNGA 2.6% 8,640 332,834 8,640 1 15:01:02 15:01:02 4 52,897 0.0%