It’s been 14 years because the “flash crash” that sent large-cap stocks tumbling for a day. A number of level-headed traders took advantage of that technology-induced share-price rout, little question. Nevertheless, something like that would never occur in 2024 — right?

After all, it’s not 2010 anymore and technology has advanced quite a bit, but Monday’s stock traders discovered that major exchange errors are still possible. It’s a weird and worrisome option to start off the week, and astute investors have every right to contemplate the startling implications of a glitchy, twitchy market.

Now, that’s what I call a bargain

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B) CEO Warren Buffett is a legendary bargain hunter. Wouldn’t or not it’s ironic then if Berkshire’s Class A shares suddenly traded at a 99% discount?

Let me back up for a moment and supply a fast peek backstage. Unlike individuals with well-rounded, fulfilling lives, I spend my scant free time scanning for stocks making outsized day by day moves.

I’d thought I’d seen the whole lot until, soon after the stock market opened on Monday morning, I discovered on social media that Nuscale Power Corp. (NYSE:SMR) stock was down by around 99% for the day.

Seeing this, I thanked my lucky stars that I had no position in SMR stock. Incidentally, Nuscale Power Corp. designs nuclear reactors, but this had nothing to do with the share-price meltdown (when you’ll forgive my pun).

Then I discerned what seemed to be a contagion of sorts. Soon after the news of the SMR stock wipeout spread, I came upon that two far more famous names were also down 99%.

Those names were resource giant Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) and, consider it or not, Berkshire Hathaway. More accurately, Berkshire’s Class A shares seemed to be down by about 99%, while the Class B shares traded of their usual price range.

At this point, I wondered if I used to be dreaming or perhaps having fun with a incredible hallucination. Nothing unusual had happened within the gold market or to Barrick specifically. Yet, GOLD stock was down from its usual price of $17 and alter to a mere 25 cents per share.

Meanwhile, even while Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B shares continued to trade at their normal price of around $410 per share, the Class A shares traded on the jaw-dropping price of $185.10 per share.

For context, Berkshire’s Class A shares typically cost around $626,000 per share. They’re meant for large-scale investors in search of to take part in Buffett’s portfolio performance.

For a hot minute, it felt as if anyone could “be like Buffett” and trade big-league Berkshire shares of their not-so-big accounts. Was this the true deal though?

No, you may’t get wealthy from a glitch

Alas, trading was quickly halted on Nuscale Power, Barrick and Berkshire Class A shares, and I wasn’t capable of load the boat on these apparent 99%-off deals of the century. I have to admit, I prayed to the market gods that these issues would go unresolved long enough for me to back up the proverbial truck.

After all, that’s not how it really works. There was zero likelihood that I’d actually get to purchase Berkshire Class A stock at $185 and alter or Barrick shares for 1 / 4 apiece.

When these stocks resumed trading after being halted for an hour or two, they were back at their normal prices. It was an emotional rug-pull, though I must have fully expected this.

Here’s what happened. It was a tale of the tape — literally — because the glitches were attributable to the Consolidated Tape Association. That organization doesn’t take care of physical ticker tape this present day, however it does provide real-time stock quotes.

In response to the the Recent York Stock Exchange (NYSE) via CNBC, the problem “stemmed from the price-bands published by the Consolidated Tape Association,” which cited an “issue with limit up and limit down price bands, a mechanism meant to combat market volatility, between 9:30 a.m. and 10:27 a.m. ET.”

The problem is supposedly fixed now, and the Consolidated Tape Association will “revert back to” a “prior software program,” so this hopefully won’t occur again. If anybody happened to grab some Berkshire Class A shares at $185.10, that price probably won’t be honored, and the NYSE will likely correct them to the true price.

Thus, it was an amazing day for financial-news reporters and an unsettling day for people who value true price discovery and reliability within the markets. This doesn’t all add as much as a compelling reason to divest one’s stocks and live in a bunker, however it at the very least ought to boost serious questions on the most important exchanges’ ability to administer their technology in a tech-dominated market landscape.