Audio of the May 6, 2010 Flash Crash

I thought this was really interesting to listen to in case you have not already.  It is the audio of an Sp500 trader quoting the action taking place in the futures pit in Chicago on May 6, 2010.  Quite entertaining to listen to if you are into this sort of thing.

YouTube Link

On that day on May 6, 2010 I remember it quite clearly.  I was absolutely shocked at how fast the tape started moving after the DJIA transitioned from 300 points down to 400, 500 and 600 points down.  It had a huge affect on my emotions and I felt like a bomb blew up somewhere nearby. 

The way this guy describes the action tick by tick is quite revealing. 

That day seems now one that is a total distant memory, although it actually happened not so long ago.  It almost seems as if we forgot about it as much as the 87 drop, but again we are talking May 6, 2010, not 1987.

These huge quick drops for the most part seem to only occur from areas in the market that get extreme overbought or record overbought.  Clearly the April 2010 topping area was extreme overbought.

But now we find ourselves in similar overbought but maybe not quite to the level of April 2010.    So I am realizing, perhaps stating the obvious that big huge spike type drops in the market are much more likely to occur right after a big overbought peak instead of an already slowly declining persistent trend.

3 thoughts on “Audio of the May 6, 2010 Flash Crash”

  1. nice find Tom, There was also a video post in the section of similar finds. To watch the tick by tick and hear the commotion it really gave me goosebumps.

  2. Thanks.. Yes this audio is maybe some of the most interesting financial related content I have ever heard. I cannot believe CNBC didn’t air this on their network. It might actually help them a lot with their plummeting ratings. Seems like everyone is jumping ship on that network.

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