A big picture change that effects all stocks. During a financial crisis, risk aversion rises dramatically, and deliberate trading strategies are replaced by rising fear-induced disengagement. People head for the hills during a crisis. All the strategy in the world doesn't help. As I have indicated on previous occasions, history tells us that sharp reversals in confidence occur abruptly, most often with little advance notice.
Markets turn on a dime, bull to bear without much warning.
These reversals can be self-reinforcing processes that can compress sizable adjustments into a very short period. Panic reactions in the market are characterized by dramatic shifts in behavior that are intended to minimize short-term losses. Claims on far-distant future values are discounted to insignificance. What is so intriguing, as I noted earlier, is that this type of behavior has characterized human interaction with little appreciable change over the generations. Whether Dutch tulip bulbs or Russian equities, the market price patterns remain much the same.