Five anonymised historical charts were dealt to every player. The Monkey Index returned -0.49% across the same tape.
208 desks completed all five charts.
With rate cuts driving investors toward defensive safe havens on the eve of 2020, boring utility stocks were suddenly back in demand. Buyers stepped straight in for New York's primary power grid, delivering a +3.7% gain over the next five trading days.
As COVID lockdowns shuttered shopping centres across America, traders dumped brick-and-mortar retail as if physical stores were done for. The shares dropped another 3.9% over the next five days, carving out the exact bottom of the crash.
As the 2008 credit crunch hit household budgets, investors realised that squeezed shoppers were heading straight for discount retail. The stock leaped +10.2% over the next five trading days as the bargain-hunting trade took off.
The early months of the pandemic put diagnostic testing and lab equipment at the very centre of the global response, turning life-science giants into prime market bellwethers. That buying pressure kept building, pushing the shares up a further 4.6% over the next five trading days.
The initial COVID crash had sent shockwaves through global finance before central banks stepped in with unprecedented stimulus to halt the panic. Asset manager BlackRock rode that central bank safety net straight through the next five trading days, adding another 2.4% as confidence returned.