What caused AMZN's price to spike down then up $100 in 60 seconds?

Question

October 16th at around 3:59 the price of AMZN dropped $100, then recovered $100 in less than 60 seconds.
Not asking what news event caused this. I believe no news event caused this.
I would like to know what the technicals were that caused this.
Questions:

Was this just one share holder selling a massive amount in a short timespan?
Did the buyer at that time really randomly get a shares of AMZN $100 dollars cheaper than market value?
Is this considered a mistake? Will someone correct this discrepancy?

Bob Baerker · Answer

Most of the time, sharp momentary dips like this is due to bad data.  If so, it's usually corrected once the error is recognized. Whether it's bad data or not can  be  verified by looking at Time & Sales.
With most options and stocks, near the end of the day, the bid/ask spread widens as traders pull their orders and go home.  This can begin  10 minutes or so before the close or right at/near the close.
With AMZN, there was no massive EOD volume.  The B/A spread widened to as much as $100 at 3:59:59 PM and trades were going off within both prices.  It could have been intentional trading at the market or it could have been a fat fingered trade.  Anyone who bought at the $100 lower price got a good deal.

What caused AMZN's price to spike down then up $100 in 60 seconds?

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