Nothing distracted the market quite like the moment Tiger Woods apologized to the world
When big events happen in the world, traders can get distracted, paying more attention to a pop culture event - or just something bizarre - than the latest tics on their screens.
This week, the big distraction was the protester who stormed the podium during European Central Bank president Mario Draghi's latest press conference.
And while this caused a bit of a jump in 10-year bond yields, it was nothing like what happened to trading back in 2010 when Tiger Woods apologized following the unraveling of his marriage and golf career.
Via Deutsche Bank:
Protest trading - Wednesday, 2:39pm - Mario Draghi is confetti-bombed; yields on 10-year bunds jump. Minutes later he seems to be okay and yields plummet a fifth in three hours. Clearly investors momentarily panicked Mr Draghi was being taken out and a German might replace him and raise eurozone interest rates. Efficient markets love a protester. The pie in Rupert Murdoch's face in 2011 caused a five per cent jump in News Corp's share price that day. Bill Gates's pie in 1999 added $1bn to Microsoft's market capitalisation. Conversely, the baht depreciated four per cent over three months versus the dollar when IMF head Michel Camdessus was creamed in Thailand the following year. But nothing compares to the Tiger Woods Effect. The moment he began his televised apology in 2010, NYSE volumes tanked. When he finished 15 minutes later, they spiked 200 per cent.
Tiger finished tied for 17th at The Masters last weekend; 21-year-old phenom Jordan Spieth was the winner, tying Tiger's all-time record for fewest strokes in a weekend.