Five anonymised historical charts were dealt to every player. The Monkey Index returned -0.26% across the same tape.
59 desks completed all five charts.
Investors fleeing the COVID crash treated big pharma as both a safe haven and the frontline search for a cure, carrying the stock straight back above its pre-pandemic highs. Having outpaced the rest of the market, the shares paused for breath.
Investors had spent the autumn chasing stay-at-home tech and headline vaccine bets, leaving legacy drugmakers completely flat. The November rotation into old-school value finally gave buyers a reason to step in.
Elective surgeries had been put on hold to clear hospital beds for COVID, so the market spent the summer trying to guess when routine joint replacements would restart. The bounce off the spring lows had made good ground, but buyers hesitated right here.
Rising interest rates had hammered tech all spring, but the market still treated Apple as the last fortress standing. That defence was finally giving way, and sellers were not done.
High interest rates had kept regulated utilities out of favour for years, but the sudden scramble to feed AI data centres was turning the electricity grid into prime real estate. That quiet summer drift ended the moment the buyers took charge.