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System glitch hits E*Trade
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February 3, 1999: 3:53 p.m. ET
Customers unable to execute trades through online brokerage's Web site
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Investors found themselves unable to execute trades through E*Trade Group Inc. for more than an hour Wednesday morning after a technical glitch struck the online broker.
At about 10:15 a.m. ET, customers were unable to access the site's trading function, according to Lisa Nash, E*Trade (EGRP) vice president of customer management.
Nash said the problem stemmed from software enhancements the company added to the site's trading tools Tuesday night. All other services on E*Trade's site have been functional throughout the day.
"Normally when we put in a software change, it goes through a strict quality-control process," Nash said. "Someone obviously missed a step along the way."
Shortly after discovering the problem, the company removed the software changes. Trading functions were restored to most E*Trade customers by 11:30, though Nash said a "small number of customers, probably in the hundreds," still were having trouble.
E*Trade averages about 43,000 trades a day. Nash declined to speculate on how much business the site lost as a result of the problem, noting that many customers executed their orders via phone during the delay.
More and more, investors have lamented the delays and system failures online brokerages have often experienced. Those delays typically stem from heavy trading volumes, but Nash pointed out that was not the case with E*Trade's problems Wednesday.
Nash added E*Trade will examine its quality-control process more thoroughly to avoid similar problems in the future.
E*Trade shares fell 2-13/16 to 55-7/16 in late-afternoon trade. 
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E*Trade
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