For a related article concerning this sort of market microstructure and the behavior of its participants, see this post by Matt Levine: http://www.bloombergview

For a related article concerning this sort of market microstructure and the behavior of its participants, see this post by Matt Levine: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-12-01/apple-had-a-rough-morning http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-12-01/apple-had-a... I especially liked this quote: "The equity market is set up to dampen small movements (market makers tend to buy when others are selling), to exacerbate mid-size movements (as market makers capitulate and stops get triggered), and to dampen large movements (as circuit breakers cut off trading and let algorithms catch their breath)." From my layman's point of view, it seems like this sort of "system behavior" is a peculiar emergent property that derives from the rules of the system and the individual actions of the actors working under those rules.