The 2010 U.S. market event in which major indexes plunged briefly before recovering was called the Flash Crash.
On 6 May 2010, U.S. equity markets experienced an exceptionally rapid fall. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped about 1,000 points, or roughly 9%, during the session, before recovering much of the decline within minutes.
Investigations linked the episode to interactions among high-frequency trading, algorithmic orders, and a large automated sell order. Some individual securities briefly traded at extremely unusual prices, showing how market structure could magnify a sudden loss of liquidity.
The Flash Crash differed from a conventional bear market because its most dramatic movement happened in minutes rather than over months or years. Regulators later introduced measures including circuit breakers and rules intended to limit disorderly trading.