The stock market today fell more than 50 points in the first 10 minutes of trading, with the Dow dipping below 15,000.
June has been a volatile month for U.S. equities with the Dow experiencing 15 triple-digit moves out of 18 sessions.
As we start the final trading day of the month, which is also the last of the second quarter, expect heavy volume and wild swings.
As Business Insider pointed out yesterday, in the last five seconds of the trading day at the end of the month, or quarter, traders brace for what can best be described as intensely insane trading.
The following chart, with blue diamonds representing the end of the month and red ones representing the end of a quarter, shows the dramatic increase in E-mini trades (S&P futures contracts) that transpire at the close of trading at the end of the month, or quarter, compared to E-mini trades at the close of a regular trading session.