Following up on Saturday's "Markets: What to Expect Monday Morning" and today's "Indicators: Dually Listed (U.S. or London/Tel Aviv) Israeli Stocks Trade Down", here's a bit of history.
Back in the day, traders would actually carry their certificates in a box.
The longest surviving among them would place their most speculative holdings on top with the quality rising as you went deeper into the box.
Should a panic sweep the floor (or the sidewalk in the case of the Curb Exchange) they would begin by selling the cats and dogs, reserving the highest quality for those instances when they absolutely had to have something that was recognized as quality and readily salable.
That's what I was getting at in the "What to expect.." post.
Emerging markets will go first. Then equities. Then treasuries.
As the lady traders used to say, don't go short against the box.
Ever.
