5 Online Mistakes that Caused a Market Frenzy

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1. United Airlines

On September 8, 2008, United Airlines stock fell 76%, from $12.17 at open to about $3.00 mid-morning.  Why the collapse? Because a six-year-old story about UAL's 2002 bankruptcy filing was somehow re-posted online on the website of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, a paper owned by the Chicago Tribune Co. It was quickly refuted and the share price recovered after a 90-minute trading halt. Oddly enough, the story was not dated 2002, but was dated September 8, 2008. The blame has been put on Google, whose spider saw it on the Sun-Sentinel, assigned the current date, and placed it in the top results on Google News.

2. Apple I

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3. Apple II

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4. Apple III

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5. The Dow

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Be sure to read more of what Diana learned today here.