Five anonymised historical charts were dealt to every player. The Monkey Index returned +0.14% across the same tape.
24 desks completed all five charts.
The financial crisis had frozen global trade, so half the street thought industrial chip demand was finished. A swift 8.8% drop over the next five days seemed to confirm it, marking the final bargain before a 2526.3% run to today.
Crude prices were collapsing under a global supply glut, but cheap feedstock was handing refiners their best margins in years. The shares spent the next five days quietly catching their breath, edging up by just 0.8%.
Rating agencies were still negotiating settlements over the financial crisis, leaving investors nervous about the final bill for the housing crash. These five days shaved 2.6% off the price, a brief pause before the stock climbed 489.2% to today.
Government lawsuits still clouded the tobacco sector and the market was distracted by the housing boom, so the street assumed these defensive giants were dead money. A quiet 1.1% gain over the next week proved otherwise, starting a run that has returned 1408.2% to today.
Government regulators had just frozen the company's Medicare enrolments and the proposed Anthem merger was facing heavy scrutiny, leaving the market highly anxious about the insurer's future. This is the week the shares shed 6.2%.