Five anonymised historical charts were dealt to every player. The Monkey Index returned +0.01% across the same tape.
43 desks completed all five charts.
The 2018 rate scare had just rattled the wider market, and the street assumed the cyclical chip equipment trade was finished. Instead, a swift 7.2% bounce over the next five days began a massive run that has carried the shares up 2397.8% to today.
The taper tantrum was sending shockwaves through the market and raising doubts about the manufacturing recovery, leaving the industrial sector stuck in the mud. This is the week the automation story reasserted itself, driving a 4.4% rally over the next five trading days.
Post-crisis austerity was supposed to be a structural shift, but a stabilising economy had the market wondering if the discount retail boom was finally running out of steam. The sceptics held the upper hand here, grinding the stock down a further 1.6% over the next five days.
Subprime worries were beginning to rattle the credit markets, but global demand for heavy engineering and aerospace was still running hot. The stock capitalised on that momentum, surging 9.3% over the next five days.
Cheap shale gas was flooding the grid and power prices were cratering, leaving defensive investors nervous about whether the country's largest nuclear generator could protect its dividend. The shares managed a quiet 1.2% lift over the next five days as income seekers stepped back in.