The 2010 event in which U.S. shares plunged and rapidly recovered within minutes was the Flash Crash.
On 6 May 2010, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell about 1,000 points, nearly 9%, in a matter of minutes. Many securities experienced extreme, temporary price movements before recovering much of the loss.
Investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission concluded that a large automated order by trader Navinder Singh Sarao contributed to the episode, alongside broader market stress and high-frequency trading conditions.
The event demonstrated how electronic markets could move at extraordinary speed. In response, U.S. exchanges introduced mechanisms including single-stock circuit breakers and later market-wide safeguards. The Flash Crash is distinct from a conventional bear market because much of its damage occurred and reversed intraday.