This weeks Flashback Friday looks back to March 2011.
Back then U.S. stocks were plunging on geopolitical issues. Investors were worried the situation in oil-rich Saudi Arabia could deteriorate further, adding to the massive ongoing violence in Libya. Selling was based on news reports saying police in Saudi Arabia had fired shots or grenades at anti-government protestors. Protestors had reportedlyscheduled a “Day of Rage”similar to the one that occurred in Egypt earlier that year.
Saudi Arabia at that time was still condiered the premier oil producer, said Prudential Financial market strategist Quincy Krosby. “You don’t know where this Saudi issue is going to go but you do know it’s the country that could really cause supply disruptions.”
Bond prices rose as investors fled to the safety of government-backed investments.
Asian markets fell after China reported asurprise trade deficit, as imports outpaced exports in February for the first time in nearly a year.
In Europe, the debt crisis made headlines again after credit agencyMoody’s cut Spain’s credit rating. Moody’s downgraded Greece’s debt another notch earlier this week.
Against this backdrop, this was when the Security Traders Association of Chicago mid-winter meeting was not the first one of the year as it is now. Traders Magazine takes a walk back down Memory Lane to the 2011 Mid-Winter Meeting that was held on March 9.
