What was the nickname of the U.S. stock-market crash on May 6, 2010?

The U.S. stock-market crash on May 6, 2010, was known as the Flash Crash.

During the afternoon, major U.S. equity indexes fell extremely rapidly before recovering much of the decline within minutes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly lost nearly 1,000 points, then rebounded, creating extraordinary volatility across shares, futures, and exchange-traded products.

Investigations found that automated and high-frequency trading played an important role. A large sell order in E-mini S&P 500 futures interacted with stressed market conditions and automated strategies, producing a sudden liquidity crisis. The exact sequence was complex rather than the result of one simple manual trade.

The episode exposed weaknesses in fragmented electronic markets and prompted regulatory changes, including circuit breakers and safeguards for unusually volatile securities. It is distinct from Black Monday in 1987: both involved rapid declines, but the 2010 event largely unfolded and reversed within the same trading session.