I've been "goxed" enough times by my own haste to come to the conclusion that at least some portion of Bitcoin's volatility is due to Mt.Gox not requiring confirmation before placing orders.
Show of hands: How many times have you mis-entered an order only to realize your error moments after you see a dramatic change in your account balances? Instead of buying 200 BTC for $25, you buy 25BTC for $200 or in your haste you forget to change window panes and rather then selling 2000 BTC at $35 you place an order to buy 2000BTC at $35? (Okay, I'm not working in numbers that large, but you get the point) .
I'm seriously tempted to think that some of these crazy break out asks/bids sells might be due to simple human error. Lord knows how Gox freezes up in the most inopportune of moments. If Gox were to hold all orders until "released" I think some of these crazy up/down spikes would go away, and we would have a more stable, predictable, market.
lol no.
Gox does not show you the order your about to place and make you confirm? really??