Fidelity: Lava Error Triggered NYSE Halts

Updated from 4:25 p.m. EDT

An order that originated from Fidelity Investments was transmitted incorrectly, causing shares of Wyeth (WYE Quote), AT&T (T Quote) and Jefferies (JEF Quote) to be halted this morning on the New York Stock Exchange as specialists identified what they considered erroneous trades.

The stocks were halted on the NYSE for most of the morning and were reopened starting with Jefferies at around 11:15 a.m. EDT; all three were reopened shortly after 12 p.m. EDT. But in an episode likely to revive debate about the benefits of human involvement in trades, the Nasdaq was forced to cancel, or break, so-called off-market trades made via electronic platforms in the morning hours prior to the NYSE halt.

Sources say Fidelity Investments was acting as the sponsoring broker for a third party, National Financial Services, which is a unit of the mutual fund giant. ...