***UPDATED BELOW***
If you were freaking out over today's almost instantaneous plunge of 900 points on the Dow Jones and then equally fast and unexpected rebound, don't feel too bad because you were not alone. Check out this clip of CNBC's Jim Cramer and Erin Burnett going nuts as they try to figure out what just happened.
As Clusterstock said, it was "the most exciting moment in CNBC history."
WATCH:
***UPDATE*** As the sell off occurred, computer programs designed to automatically unload stock once the price hits a certain point likely exacerbated the process, causing the Dow to plunge so quickly. The sell off began over renewed fears of fallout from the Greek credit crisis.
***UPDATE*** CNBC reports that a trading error at a major firm is being blamed for the massive sell off today:
A possible culprit for the drop was a trader error in which someone entered a "b" for billion instead of an "m" for million in a trade. Multiple sources confirmed the report to CNBC and CNBC.com
***UPDATE*** The Economist is skeptical of the trader error explanation:
It's not clear what happened, exactly, but it looks as though computer trading strategies, rather than market glitches, may have exacerbated the stunning decline and reversal.