The stock market lost and regained almost a trillion dollars in 36 minutes
On May 6, 2010, US stock indices plunged nearly 10% and then recovered almost all of it within about half an hour, for reasons that took years to fully untangle. Automated high-frequency trading algorithms amplified one large sell order into a feedback loop of rapid-fire trades, and some shares briefly changed hands for a single cent or over $100,000. It remains a landmark case study in how automated markets can destabilize themselves in minutes.