Reuters alone with probe into a high-frequency computer glitch that rattled oil markets

Reuters broke news on Aug 25 that a big high-frequency trading firm faced possible civil charges after its trading algorithm malfunctioned back in February, sending oil markets spinning. Documents obtained by Reuters and sources familiar with the probe detailed the glitch at Infinium Capital Management, the firm that briefly but uncontrollably bought futures contracts at a rate of up to 3,000 orders per second on Feb. 3. The scoop explained for the first time what violently drove up oil prices by $1, and then down again, as markets closed that day, and it shed light on what may have sparked a selloff in then-record volumes the follow two days. Details of CME Groups six-month investigation, which involves the CFTC, exposed many of the same electronic-trading and marketplace flaws revealed by the May flash crash,` and it likely puts additional pressure on regulators to act. The story was chased by the Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal, which cited Reuters repeatedly in its print edition the next day.