On April 23, 2013, a single fake tweet from the Associated Press claimed there were explosions at the White House and that President Barack Obama was injured. This misinformation triggered an immediate reaction in the financial markets, causing the S&P 500 index to plummet by approximately $130 billion in market value within minutes. The rapid decline was driven by automated trading algorithms that reacted to key terms in the tweet without verifying the information. Just three minutes later, the Associated Press confirmed that its account had been hacked and the tweet was false, leading to a swift recovery of the market. This incident not only demonstrated how susceptible financial markets are to misinformation but also underscored the growing power of automated trading systems, which can act on signals without human oversight. The event serves as a cautionary tale about the speed at which markets can react to news—real or fake—and the potential for significant financial consequences.