The 2010 U.S. market event in which stocks plunged rapidly before recovering much of the loss was called the Flash Crash.
On May 6, 2010, major U.S. equity indexes dropped extremely quickly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly lost nearly 1,000 points, then recovered much of the decline before the session ended. The episode exposed how electronic markets and automated orders could amplify a sudden imbalance between buying and selling.
The event was not a conventional, months-long bear market. It unfolded within minutes and affected individual shares and exchange-traded products unevenly. Investigations and later legal proceedings focused on automated trading activity, including the actions of trader Navinder Singh Sarao, while regulators also introduced reforms designed to improve market stability.