There was apparently a hack in the Twitter feed signaling that an explosion had taken place at the White House and that President Obama had been injured. This was quickly shut down and the AP feeds on Twitter are all denying this. Even the White House has confirmed that this was a bogus event.
Stocks were up big, and suddenly went way down into the red based upon the fake tweet. This is the problem with too many people trusting social media and trusting online sources. The other side of the argument is that the social media space may likely be responsible for breaking or confirming news in the future over the traditional media networks.
By the way, what happened today is not covered as a protection under freedom of speech. This is worse than yelling “Fire!” in a crowded movie theater. If the person that did this is caught, they will be going to jail. Here is what happened in the market based on this crime as you can see by a Bloomberg daily DJIA chart:
An image of the fake Tweet is blow:
Top Gaining Stocks
Top Losing Stocks