Does it seem to you that a stock gapping up or down at the open is the norm nowadays?

[Vindaloo99]

And does it seem that stocks used to trade more steadily, picking up one day where they left off the day before?
If you think this is true, to what do you attribute this behavior?

[InspectorBudget]

Stocks gapping up or down is usually because of breaking news or press releases that appear late in the day, or after the close of business for that day.

News gets out a lot faster to the investing public because oft he internet and real time feeds like twitter and RSS. This would probably result in possible knee jerk reactions as investors try to exit at the same time.

[Jerry]

We're in the middle of earnings season. A lot of the headline stories are stocks are gapping up or down on earnings or new guidance.

This behavior is the norm for about 3 weeks in every quarter, just one of many seasonality factors affecting the stock market.