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Re:Today the Dow dropped 1000 points in about ten minutes. by px on Thursday May 06, 2010 @03:33PM (#1325384)
To give some perspective, it is the biggest intra-day loss since 1987.
Re:Today the Dow dropped 1000 points in about ten minutes. by dionysiac on Thursday May 06, 2010 @04:39PM (#1325658)
For those interested, "The (Mis)Behavior of Markets" by Benoit Mandelbrot and Richard Hudson examines, among many other things, the 1987 "Black Monday" event. Mandelbrot theorizes that sudden, disproportionate events such as these may be much more common than today's models and distributions predict. It's a great, accessible read even for those not mathematically inclined.
Re:Today the Dow dropped 1000 points in about ten minutes. by lutorm on Thursday May 06, 2010 @05:02PM (#1325719)
Sounds like a "Black Swan".
Re:Today the Dow dropped 1000 points in about ten minutes. by marcamillion on Thursday May 06, 2010 @07:08PM (#1326049)
A black swan is an unanticipated event (typically grounded in some fundamentals) - not an error of judgement or algorithm.
Re:Today the Dow dropped 1000 points in about ten minutes. by wglb on Thursday May 06, 2010 @08:06PM (#1326203)
But to the extent that judgement and algorithms inform and are informed by our anticipation, it is very much that.