Five anonymised historical charts were dealt to every player. The Monkey Index returned +0.10% across the same tape.
65 desks completed all five charts.
Soaring crop prices had kept tractor order books full, but rising interest rates had investors convinced the farm boom was peaking. The summer bounce finally ran out of road.
Trade war headlines were rattling the wider market, sending investors hunting for shelter in dependable old-line insurers. After carrying the shares to fresh record highs, the buyers finally stepped aside.
Hurricane Katrina had just battered the Gulf Coast and sent natural gas prices through the roof, leaving energy-heavy industrials staring at a brutal margin squeeze. The crisis was still in the headlines, but the selling had run out of steam.
With the credit crunch spreading, investors spent late 2007 hiding in steady power utilities to ride out the storm. This was the week even the safe havens cracked.
Runaway repair bills and used car prices had hammered insurers all through 2022, leaving the market convinced premium hikes could never catch up with inflation. After three months of drifting, buyers finally broke the deadlock.