Technical problems on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday affected Warren Buffett’s class A shares Berkshire Hathaway appears to be down almost 100%.
Trading was halted in the stock, as well as in Barrick Gold and Nuscale power, which has also seen a dramatic fall. Barrick and Nuscale have since resumed trading.
NYSE said in an update at 10:11 am ET that they are investigating technical problems related to the limit up and limit down bands, which is the mechanism to stop stocks for excessive volatility. It is unclear exactly how many shares are affected by the issue.
The cause of the technical error is unclear. After the NYSE said it was experiencing problems, the Joint Tape Association, an organization used by major exchanges to jointly provide real-time stock quotes, reported earlier failure that caused it to switch to a disaster recovery center.
There were less than 4,000 trades recorded on the day for Berkshire’s class A shares when trading was halted. Trading continued in class B shares, which were down less than 1% on Friday morning.
The suspension did not have a significant impact on the average value of the main market.
The troubles at the NYSE are another reminder that the exchanges and data providers that are central to Wall Street are not entirely to blame. Other recent examples include a one-hour freeze for CME index data feeds last week and a Nasdaq system error in December that caused several orders to be canceled.
The NYSE also had a day in January 2023 when the opening auction for some stocks did not happen properly.
On a normal day, Berkshire’s original Class A stock carries one of the highest price tags on Wall Street. Last week, each one sold for about 45% more than the average price of a house in the US Class A shares reached an all-time closing high of $634,440 on March 28.
This is because Buffett never splits the shares, because he wants to attract long-term investment-oriented shareholders. Ben Graham’s protégé says many Berkshire shareholders use the stock as a savings account.
Berkshire issued Class B shares in 1996 at a price equal to one thirty Class A shares to cater to small investors who wanted Buffett’s performance.
Buffett is Berkshire’s largest shareholder, owning more than 38% of its class A shares, according to FactSet. The “Oracle of Omaha” promises to deliver the fortune built on Berkshire, the Omaha-based conglomerate that began in 1965.
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