Flashback to Black Monday? The Next Machine-Driven Meltdown

Thanks to Mike Allen @ axios.com for sending a summary of this cover story. On the 30th anniversary of Black Monday on October 19,1987 the market could be at the risk of a computer-driven meltdown. . . some hear echoes of the stock market's crash," per the Barron's cover story, by Ben Levisohn:

The problem: Market players rely increasingly on computers to run quantitative, rules-based systems known as algorithms to pick stocks, mitigate risk, place trades, bet on volatility, and much more — and they bear a resemblance to those blamed for Black Monday when the DJIA shed nearly a quarter of its value in wave after wave of selling."

• Why it matters: "The proliferation of computer-driven investing has created an illusion that risk can be measured and managed."
• "But several anomalous episodes in recent years involving sudden, severe, and seemingly inexplicable price swings suggest that the next market selloff could be exacerbated by the fact that machines are at the controls."