With the ECB refusing support, there was heavy trading in credit default swaps on Greek government debt. In a single day the Volatility Index (VIX), a measure of market uncertainty, surged by 31.7 percent. The euro plunged, losing 2.5 cents by early afternoon.52 What was going on between terminals on both sides of the Atlantic that afternoon would later become a matter of dispute in American courtrooms. But at 2:32 p.m. the market went into spasm.53 Half an hour later, by 3:05 p.m., the main American stock markets had given up 6 percent of their value, erasing $1 trillion from portfolios. As
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