Quote of the Week: Rise of the Machines

The financial markets had the equivalent of a stroke this week. The Dow was down about 300 points on Thursday afternoon, thanks to rising concerns about the debt crisis in Europe. Suddenly, at about 2:30 p.m., a massive wave of selling overwhelmed the stock markets, sending the Dow down 998 points and wiping out $1 trillion in value. For a few minutes. The market recovered somewhat, and major indexes ended the day about 3 percent lower.

Numerous factors have been cited in the crash: anxiety about Europe, the role of high-speed computerized trading programs, and reports of possible human error. Senator Ted Kaufman has called on his colleagues to get to the bottom of the mess. President Obama said on Friday that government authorities were looking into the cause of the sell-off.

One investment executive, Charlie Smith of Fort Pitt Capital Group, captured the heart of the episode, in which the market suffered its biggest intraday drop in history. His words, to the Associated Press, win the prize as the Portfolio.com Quote of the Week: "I think the machines just took over. There’s not a lot of human interaction."