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If the technology is down because of an outage on account of the weather, it's hard to blame anyone. But when I hear the recorded voice asking me to wait--- but that my call "is very important to us," I just say out loud, in the privacy of my own home: "Shit, if my call was so important to you, I'd be talking to a HUMAN right now. HIRE enough people, and you won't have pissed-off shareholders!"
I rarely have to call financial institutions or service providers that I have a relationship with. Whenever I do, I almost always receive the dreaded "Your call is very important to us..." recording. I'm with Crash - hire some more folks!
One would expect these large brokerages would have contingency plans in place just in case of power outages, loss of internet connection, and human representatives. Backup generators are commonly used in large hospitals. Alternate call centers would help.
Agree. COVID situation makes very challenging to have large number of people working closely together. Trading on the floor in stock exchanges is very different today. Stock analysts and fund managers are working from home.
I think these were more related to the high volumes and volatility in a very concentrated swath of stocks, and it flooded these brokers with transactions in formerly low-volume/low-share count stocks. And it created a ripple effect amongst the brokers and in the broader market itself. Plus holdings had to be liquidated to come up with funds for short covering, etc.
An-aluminum-foil-hat-wearing theory of mine is that “Wall Street” powers threw a tantrum that they were getting beat at their own game so they tanked the broader market in response, and gained on the overall market declines. But I don’t wear a foil hat very often, so I don’t necessarily think that theory holds much water (plus I’m spending too much time reading Reddit’s WSB hahaha).
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Stay Safe , Derf
Whenever I do, I almost always receive the dreaded "Your call is very important to us..." recording.
I'm with Crash - hire some more folks!
Stay Safe, Derf
An-aluminum-foil-hat-wearing theory of mine is that “Wall Street” powers threw a tantrum that they were getting beat at their own game so they tanked the broader market in response, and gained on the overall market declines. But I don’t wear a foil hat very often, so I don’t necessarily think that theory holds much water (plus I’m spending too much time reading Reddit’s WSB hahaha).