Five anonymised historical charts were dealt to every player. The Monkey Index returned -0.02% across the same tape.
93 desks completed all five charts.
The taper tantrum had just rattled global markets, but money kept crowding into reliable compounders that could ignore the macro noise. The rally had already done the heavy lifting, and sellers never showed up.
Silicon Valley Bank had just collapsed and fear was sweeping through the financial sector, with traders dumping anything tied to Wall Street. Right in the thick of the panic, the floor quietly held.
E-commerce was supposed to be hollowing out physical retail, but warehouse clubs were proving completely impervious. The summer rally never broke stride.
Lehman had just collapsed and chipmakers were freezing factory budgets across the globe, leaving equipment suppliers completely stranded. Even after a brutal autumn slide, sellers were not done.
Cable was reinventing itself as the gatekeeper of high-speed internet, but half the street still treated it as a heavily indebted television business. The autumn advance quietly kept its footing.