Meaning:

“闪” means “flash,” and “崩” means “crash.” Frequently used in the Chinese media nowadays, this term is a translation of the English term “flash crash,” which refers to a very rapid, deep, and volatile fall in security or financial instrument prices within an extremely short period. A flash crash frequently stems from trades executed by black-box trading, combined with high-frequency trading, whose speed and interconnectedness can result in the loss and recovery of billions of dollars in a matter of minutes and seconds. But this term in the Chinese context is not used strictly in its original sense, as Chinese stock markets are often more volatile than mature markets and the fall in prices may not be triggered by black-box trading.

Example:

A: 今天尾盘不少股票闪崩。

Jīntiān wěipán bùshǎo gǔpiào shǎnbēng。

Quite a few stocks flash crashed towards the end of the trading day today.

B: 是啊，最近监管从严，操纵股价和违规入市的资金都在撤退。

Shì a, zuìjìn jiānguǎn cóngyán, cāozòng gǔjià hé wéiguī rùshì de zījīn dōu zài chètuì。

Indeed. With tightened-up oversight recently, those who manipulated stock prices and whose investment funds are illegal are in a hurry to leave the market.