July 8, 2015
(ANTIMEDIA) Shortly before midnight on Tuesday, Anonymous wished bad luck to befall Wall Street.
When the New York Stock Exchange experienced “technical issues” slightly less than twelve hours later, Anonymous appeared to have received its wish.
Trading abruptly halted at 11:32am on Wednesday morning due to “some technical malfunctions,” explained NYSE director of floor operations, Art Cashin. While U.S. officials claimed there were no signs of a “cyber breach” that would have caused the difficulties, the timing of the Anonymous message is . . . interesting.
Tweeted under the handle @YourAnonNews, the midnight jinx stated, “Wonder if tomorrow is going to be bad for Wall Street . . . we can only hope.”
Wonder if tomorrow is going to be bad for Wall Street…. we can only hope.
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) July 8, 2015
A statement posted to the NYSE Facebook page stated, “The issue we are experiencing is an internal technical issue and is not the result of a cyber breach. We chose to suspend trading on NYSE to avoid problems arising from our technical issue. NYSE-listed securities continue to trade unaffected on other market centers.”
Wednesday, itself, appeared to be the unfortunate subject of many such “technical difficulties.” In addition to the NYSE halt, New York City subway commuters experienced lengthy delays with trains inexplicably stalled in some stations. All United Airlines flights had to be grounded when the company’s computer system mysteriously malfunctioned. And 2,500 people in Washington, D.C. were left in the dark after a power outage—also unexplained.
Previous threats to the stock exchange by Anonymous in 2011 were more direct than Tuesday night’s gentle curse. One message issued a warning the collective would “destroy” the NYSE while another vowed to “erase” the NYSE from the internet altogether.
Officials are maintaining their denial of any cyber mischief—though they have not issued any plausible explanation, either—yet.
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