Help me pinpoint a day in the early 2000s.

January 26, 2007 12:23 PM

Help me pinpoint a day in the early 2000s.

There was a day in either 2000 or 2001 in January or February that sticks out in my mind for a few minor personal events that happened that day, but I cannot remember the date. I remember it was snowing in my area but the thing that can really pinpoint the date is that something was on the news all day about the stock market numbers being unavailable for most of the day due to some random reason. The stock market was open or was supposed to be open. Anybody know the date?

posted by daninnj to grab bag (31 answers total)

Well as a data point, the stock market shut down for the first time in history on 9/11/01, so if it was before that, there was some data delivery problem, not the market closing. The market is closed on MLK Day, at least now, as well as on some other winter holidays.

I did dig this up: "In February 2001, Nasdaq introduced an Internet browser-based system, Workstation WebLink, for
small order-entry and market making firms..." which may have had some bearing on the availability of the numbers. It would help to know where you were living (I assume the US) because it's pretty simple to get past weather reports.
posted by jessamyn at 12:36 PM on January 26, 2007

If it was in January of 2000, it could be any of these days in January. Although you'll have to look for your area by yourself.

Citation

posted by parmanparman at 12:37 PM on January 26, 2007

NYSE on june 8th 2001 and NASDAQ on June 28/29...The NYSE issue was upgrade related and lasted about an hour and a half...the NASDAQ hiccups were shorter...dont remember details. Hope that helps.
posted by cyclopz at 12:38 PM on January 26, 2007

But, then again, if it were February 2001, then it could be one of these days.

Citation

February 2001 Pennsylvania Weather Summary

posted by parmanparman at 12:40 PM on January 26, 2007

Was it possibly March of 1999 when the Dow hit 10,000 for the first time?
posted by dpx.mfx at 12:40 PM on January 26, 2007

Looking back a year though, and again, I hope this jogs your memory. There was some snowfall in February of 2000:

Citation

posted by parmanparman at 12:42 PM on January 26, 2007

Have you thought of thinking about precipitation in February 2000?

Citation

February 2000 Monthly Precipitation Data
City Lat Long Data
Acmetonia 40.53 -79.82 3
Allentown WSO Airport 40.65 -75.43
Altoona FAA Airport 40.3 -75.43
...
posted by parmanparman at 12:43 PM on January 26, 2007

Here is the same for January 2000 plus a short idea of the snowfall. I hope this helps.

Citation

posted by parmanparman at 12:45 PM on January 26, 2007

I was just thinking about it, and then it hit me! Precipitation levels for January 2001 might be just the thing for you to get the answer you were looking for:

Citation

posted by parmanparman at 12:46 PM on January 26, 2007

Daninnj, I forgot to post the precipitation levels in my last post. Hope all of this helps with your question!

January 2001 Precipitation by Town

(measured in inches)

City Lat Long Jan. Pcp.
Acmetonia 40.53 -79.82 0.59
Allentown WSO Airport 40.65 -75.43 2.65
Altoona 40.67 -78.47 1.63

Citation
posted by parmanparman at 12:50 PM on January 26, 2007

parmanparman, I appreciate all this weather data and trying to help, but I was actually in New Jersey when this happened, sorry... forgot that I have my college city in my profile. It was definitely in January or February 2000 or 2001 though, and not during the summer. The snow was not a lot, less than an inch. I was in the Neptune, NJ area at the time.
posted by daninnj at 12:56 PM on January 26, 2007

#jessamyn: "In February 2001, Nasdaq introduced an Internet browser-based system, Workstation WebLink, for small order-entry and market making firms..."

Maybe that's it, but I'm not sure. Hmmm, I'm trying to think of other events of that day, but nothing that can pinpoint a date.
posted by daninnj at 1:01 PM on January 26, 2007

It wasn't a random event but the U.S. stock markets underwent decimalization in late 2000/early 2001 (SEC plan). I'm pretty sure that the actual transition was nondisruptive and I haven't been able to find any news indicating otherwise. . . . It's probably not what you're thinking of but maybe it's worth mentioning.
posted by yz at 1:11 PM on January 26, 2007

Do you have or can you get your credit card records for those months? That might jog your memory, if you went to a particular restaurant, or bought something else that is relevant to those personal events to which you allude.
posted by desjardins at 1:14 PM on January 26, 2007

Try looking at Wikepedia for each of the weekdays (and non-holidays) in Jan and Feb. For example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_5">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_5

In the "Events" section they have things that happened on that date for various years. Maybe something there will job your memory about the day, or a day/week before/after, etc.
posted by mikepop at 1:15 PM on January 26, 2007

correct example link:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_5
posted by mikepop at 1:16 PM on January 26, 2007

Around that time, I followed the markets pretty closely, and the only things I remember are the outages already discussed here. Decimilization went well. Are you sure that there were news stories about stock data being generally unavailable? If so, they should be relatively easy to find.

The June outages in 2001 were a pretty big deal, and sound like what you are talking about, but it obviously wasn't snowing then.
posted by jcwagner at 1:23 PM on January 26, 2007

I recall a day (can't recall what year) when the market results were not properly transmitted at the end of the trading day -- and the listings intended for publication the next morning were all "x'ed" out in the Wall Street Journal, etc. Could this possibly be the event you are remembering?
posted by ericb at 1:25 PM on January 26, 2007

The more I think about it, the more I remember. I was at my grandma's doctor's office and CNBC or a channel like it (with multiple stock tickers at the bottom) and they couldn't get the numbers. Now, I'm trying to remember if it was only one of the markets having trouble with data or all of them. I think it was all of them. I also don't think it was a specific problem to the channel.
posted by daninnj at 1:36 PM on January 26, 2007

Found this: NASDAQ froze for about 2.5 hours on 2000 February 18: Major Disruption at Nasdaq.

The widely watched Nasdaq composite index froze for roughly half an hour Friday morning, which Wall Street brokerage firms said significantly disrupted trading.

The snafu came less than 24 hours after the red-hot technology-heavy index grabbed worldwide headlines by surpassing the psychologically important 5,000 milestone at its close Thursday.

posted by yz at 1:37 PM on January 26, 2007 [2 favorites]

Feb 18th was a Friday. I was off from school that day, now that I remember it. The 21st was President's Day, so I must have been off for the weekend.

I think that's it! AWESOME! THANKS yz!
posted by daninnj at 1:43 PM on January 26, 2007

Clarification: the article is dated 2000 March 10 and says that NASDAQ froze for half an hour on Friday (apparently that same day as March 10 was a Friday). It then notes that NASDAQ had frozen for 2.5 hours only a few weeks ago on February 18. So there are two dates here; sorry about that.
posted by yz at 1:47 PM on January 26, 2007

Why not call your grandmother's doctor's office and ask when the appointment was?
posted by beagle at 1:48 PM on January 26, 2007

I should have checked preview. . . . Hopefully that's it, daninnj.
posted by yz at 1:49 PM on January 26, 2007

Nice work! Don't remember this at all!
posted by jcwagner at 1:50 PM on January 26, 2007

#beagle: I would have, but that office closed down a few years later and I don't even remember which doctor it was.

But it has to be February 18th, 2000. Seeing how I was off from school, it makes sense.
posted by daninnj at 1:52 PM on January 26, 2007

Gotta love the hive mind here at MetaFilter!
posted by ericb at 1:55 PM on January 26, 2007

This CNN news story seems to indicate it was indeed snowing on February 18, 2000. While it was a larger storm further inland, it looks like it wasn't so bad coastally.

"In New Jersey, dozens of schools closed or scheduled early dismissals in anticipation of the storm. Snow began falling steadily by about 8 a.m. in the southern part of the state. By midmorning, it was spreading northward and had changed to rain along the coast."
posted by cacophony at 3:08 PM on January 26, 2007

Awesome cacophony. Thanks for the research!
posted by daninnj at 3:10 PM on January 26, 2007

NASDAQ press release, 2/18/00
posted by staggernation at 3:33 PM on January 26, 2007

What happened to you on that day????
posted by footnote at 3:07 PM on January 27, 2007