Trading bots create extreme events faster than humans can react

High-frequency trading is the practice where automated systems search for minor differences in price of stocks that can be exploited for small financial gains. Executed often enough and with a high enough investment, they can lead to serious profits for the investment firms that have the wherewithal to run these systems.

The systems trade with minimal human supervision, however, and have been blamed for a number of unusually violent swings that have taken place in the stock market.