The May 6, 2010 U.S. market event that briefly erased nearly 1,000 Dow points was called the Flash Crash.
During the afternoon session, major U.S. equity indexes plunged and then recovered much of the loss within minutes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 1,000 points, approximately 9%, before rebounding rapidly. Some individual securities briefly traded at extraordinarily low prices.
Investigations found that automated trading, market conditions, and a large sell order contributed to the episode. Authorities later charged trader Navinder Singh Sarao with using spoofing strategies, although the event also exposed broader weaknesses in market structure and liquidity.
The Flash Crash was not the same as a conventional, months-long bear market. Its defining feature was the extraordinary speed of the decline and recovery. Regulators subsequently strengthened safeguards, including circuit breakers and single-stock trading pauses.