Here's What We Know So Far About The Shutdown At The NASDAQ

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Daniel Goodman / Business Insider

Trading on the NASDAQ halted Thursday afternoon due to a technical issue with something called UTP SIP quote dissemination.

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UTP, or "unlisted trading privileges" refers to the ability of other exchanges to trade stocks on the NASDAQ and SIP ("securities information processor") is the system by which NASDAQ sends quotes of those securities to other exchanges.

Exchange officials are scrambling to a) figure out what happened and b) resume trading safely. At this point, everyone is just confused. From the Wall Street Journal:

"It's really shocking. We're stuck," said Ramon Verastegui, head of global engineering and strategy at Société Générale. "If we want to trade Apple, we can't."

With no new updates, CNBC pundits were locked in a talking heads decabox.

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The "market is too complicated" and "ridiculously complex" said former Nasdaq Vice-Chair David Weild to CNBC.

Both the NYSE and the BATS Exchange stopped trading in all NASDAQ-listed Tape C securities, per NASDAQ's request. Tape C securities are listed on the NASDAQ or NASDAQ Small Cap exchange.

It's been largely radio silence from NASDAQ since its 1 PM alert:

NASDAQ intends to re-open trading in all Tape C securities with a halt cross with a 5-minute quote only period starting at a time to be determined. NASDAQ will not be cancelling open orders on the book. Customers who wish to cancel their orders may do so and any customer who wishes to not participate in the re-opening should cancel their orders prior to the resumption of trading. Additionally, NASDAQ will clear all stale quotes from the UTP SIP prior to the commencement of trading.

A low volume day should mean the NASDAQ can get back on its feet, according to CNBC. But we're still waiting.

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