The whole thing was definitely caused by some mamaluke but it's unlike the guy was rocking unusually large appendages.

A fat-fingered trader may not have caused the 998-point drop in the stock market two weeks ago, but some type of human error appears to be the source, according to the preliminary findings of a government study into the massive market decline, FOX Business has learned. The final report, to be published by the Securities and Exchange Commission, could be made public as early as today, FOX Business has learned, and it will lay out the causes of the market plunge that has renewed calls for a more coordinated market structure, along with increased regulation of the securities markets.

But according to people with knowledge of the study’s preliminary findings, there was some human error, or as one person with direct knowledge of the report told FOX Business, a “poorly handled order,” at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which touched off massive trading in the markets, particularly at the New York Stock Exchange.

Human Error Said To Be Source Of Market Sell-Off [FBN]