What is the common name for the sudden U.S. market plunge and rebound on May 6, 2010?

The sudden U.S. market plunge and rebound on May 6, 2010, is commonly called the 2010 Flash Crash. In a matter of minutes, major indexes dropped sharply before recovering much of the loss.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 1,000 points, or nearly 9%, during the episode. Investigations linked the event to a combination of stressed markets, automated high-frequency trading, and a large sell order, although no single mechanism explained every movement.

Some individual securities briefly traded at implausible prices, exposing weaknesses in market structure. Regulators later introduced measures such as single-stock circuit breakers and coordinated trading pauses to reduce the likelihood and impact of similar disruptions.