Panic and sudden meltdowns

A few days ago, the HDFC Bank stock had a sort of meltdown, losing over 8 per cent in a day and then some more over the next few days. While such crashes are common in the stocks of smaller companies, they are much rarer in large-cap companies. Generally speaking, large stocks are stable. There are various reasons for this, but in general, large listed companies have good information flow and are well-understood by investors. However, that does not mean that there can't be shocks and surprises - sudden, panicked declines might be unusual but still occur with some regularity. A sudden panic in a stock hitherto known as a quality stock can be unnerving for the small equity investor. It could just be a panic or something real - a one-way reversal of a company's fortunes. It can be hard to tell. The biggest such event occurred a couple of