Posted: Friday, May 13, 2005 7:00 pm
Nasdaq Stock Market snafu distorts quotes
NEW YORK A computer problem at an unidentified stock trading company caused erroneous, exaggerated prices some as high as $950 per share to be posted to the Nasdaq Stock Market Friday morning, a spokeswoman for the Nasdaq said.
The Nasdaq said it was reviewing all trades between 9:19 a.m. and approximately 9:40 a.m., when the problem occurred. A large number of securities were affected, though none of them appeared to be among the Nasdaq's most heavily traded stocks.
The problem has been corrected, Nasdaq spokeswoman Bethany Sherman said. If any transactions were completed at those higher prices, those transactions will be broken and the sellers will get their stock back. The Nasdaq planned to post a list of affected stocks on its Web site.
The problem arose when a broker linked to the all-electronic Nasdaq system inadvertently put out bids for stocks that were substantially higher than the prices in which those stocks normally trade. For example, shares of Maxco Inc., a metal heat-treating company that normally trades between $3 and $4 per share, was briefly quoted at $951.47 Friday morning. It later traded at $4.10 per share.
Happy Meal toy builders protest working conditions
HANOI, Vietnam Nearly 10,000 workers who make toys for McDonald's Happy Meals returned to work Friday after staging a two-day strike at a factory in central Vietnam to protest alleged unfair and abusive labor practices, officials said.
The strike, which ended after a settlement was reached Thursday, involved about 9,300 laborers, mostly young women, said Phan Viet Thong, chairman of the Danang City Federation of Labor. The workers walked off the job Wednesday and gathered outside the Hong Kong-owned factory, Keyhinge Toys Vietnam Co. Ltd., Thong said.
The employees claimed they had been treated badly. They alleged supervisors routinely humiliated and cursed at them, and that factory bosses refused to pass on their complaints to company leaders, said a man from Danang City Industrial Zone Management Board who gave his name only as Dong.
The strike was widely reported in Vietnam's state-controlled media, which said the workers alleged that they were forced to work 12-hour days with no overtime and were allowed only 45 minutes for lunch. They also complained that their wages were cut if they visited the restroom more than twice a day or if a visit to the doctor took longer than two hours.
Maytag board slashes dividend by 50 percent
NEWTON, Iowa Home and commercial appliance maker Maytag Corp. on Thursday said its board voted to slash the company's quarterly dividend in half, effective immediately, to finance its restructuring plan and free additional cash to repay debt and fund pensions.
The 9-cent-per-share dividend is payable June 15 to shareholders of record June 1.
The company also said it will invest the additional cash in its business as Maytag steps up advertising and R&D expenses in the second half of 2005 with new product introductions.
Earlier the company took harsh criticism from shareholders at the company's annual meeting, but reaffirmed a plan that may include closing the company's flagship factory in this central Iowa town and moving the jobs abroad. Shareholders complained that exporting jobs is bad for Maytag's corporate image.
From wire reports