> How is it fair that the markets get put on pause if they're failing? I really don't understand. The "circuit breaker" was put in place in response to the 198

> How is it fair that the markets get put on pause if they're failing? I really don't understand. The "circuit breaker" was put in place in response to the 1987 "Black Friday" event. It was the early days of automated trading, and computers got the lion's share of the blame. The "circuit breaker" is intended to shut down machines that can drive the market downward faster than people can react. It also shuts out people making panic decisions without thinking at all. Basically, everyone gets a "time out".