Five anonymised historical charts were dealt to every player. The Monkey Index returned +0.11% across the same tape.
133 desks completed all five charts.
Wall Street was catching a breather after the Bear Stearns bailout, but consumer brands were already feeling the pre-recession squeeze. The next five trading days handed back 2.8%.
The 2018 rate scare was hammering global markets, but capital was quietly taking shelter in defensive healthcare names. Eli Lilly shrugged off the panic to gain another +4.5% over the next five trading days, beginning a run that is +1107.0% to today.
US property was riding high at the absolute peak of the mid-2000s housing boom, oblivious to the subprime storm brewing underneath. Over the next five trading days, the apartment giant tacked on a further +2.7%.
With markets hunting for safety, investors spent the summer piling into bulletproof household staples like soap and detergent. The defensive trade promptly lost its shine, slipping -0.6% over the next five trading days.
3G mobile rollouts were gathering steam in mid-2005, but tech investors were hesitating over the true speed of phone upgrades. Across the next five trading days Qualcomm simply treaded water, edging down 0.2%.