Five anonymised historical charts were dealt to every player. The Monkey Index returned +0.22% across the same tape.
49 desks completed all five charts.
After two decades under John Chambers, Cisco was handing over the top job just as cloud computing threatened to make its networking hardware look like yesterday's kit. Buyers still backed the old router giant to manage the transition without losing its footing.
Lockdowns had idled the world's factories, leaving 3M caught between a surge in N95 mask orders and a freeze across the rest of its industrial empire. Buyers kept their nerve through the June pause as the reopening trade found its footing.
Late in 2009, freight volumes were still stuck in the post-crisis slump and fleets were parking old rigs rather than ordering new Kenworths and Peterbilts. The recovery rally that had lifted PACCAR off its spring lows stalled out here as traders waited for actual cargo to show up on the highways.
Early COVID fears had already made streaming the market's favourite stay-at-home trade, lifting Netflix through the start of 2020 while the wider index began to crack. Even the obvious lockdown winner could not dodge the March dash for cash when the whole market seized up at once.
As the early 2025 tariff scare rattled the tech leaders, money rotated toward the steady, contracted cash flows of the world's largest industrial gas supplier. Even with European factories still sluggish, Linde traded as a safe harbour right until the March growth wobble finally caught up with the rally.