The 2010 Flash Crash caused a sudden, dramatic plunge in U.S. stock prices within minutes.
On 6 May 2010, the Dow Jones Industrial Average temporarily lost about 1,000 points, nearly 9 percent, before recovering much of the fall. Some individual securities showed even more extreme temporary price movements.
Investigations linked the episode to a combination of high-frequency trading, automated order systems, market fragmentation, and a large sell order. The event demonstrated how computer-driven strategies could amplify stress when liquidity disappeared across trading venues.
The Flash Crash was not a conventional multi-year bear market like the 1929 or 2008 collapses. It was a rapid market-dislocation event, followed by partial recovery within the same trading session. Regulators subsequently strengthened safeguards and introduced measures such as trading pauses for individual securities.