Dow Jones Newswires sent several fake headlines shortly after the market opened for trading Tuesday because of a "technical error." The headlines included one that said Google was acquiring Apple for $9 billion.
Here are some examples of the headlines:
"DJ UPDATE: Google, Apple Join to Create Tech Giant"
"DJ Google to buy Apple for $9 billion"
"DJ Google Says Yay"
"DJ Google Says Steve Jobs Suggested this in His Will"
Apple currently has a market value greater than $800 billion. Google changed its name to Alphabet in 2015.
Dow Jones, a unit of News Corp, denied the company was hacked and sent the following statement in regard to the incident:
"Please disregard the headlines that ran on Dow Jones Newswires between 9:34 a.m. ET and 9:36 a.m. ET. Due to a technical error, the headlines were published. All of those headlines are being removed from the wires. We apologize for the error."
Other headlines clearly said "test," but it was the Apple one that caught traders attention, if for nothing else besides its silliness.
It is difficult to tell if the headlines moved the market as the $9 billion acquisition size was obviously incorrect. However, computers may be more susceptible to trade fake headlines as the volume of algorithmic trading rises.
Dow Jones headline errors
Dow Jones fake Apple Google story