To all readers who are impacted by the storm, I do hope you are safe and any damage to your property is minimal. We are truly experiencing an epic storm. It’s also rather epic to see the capital markets “semi” closed for at least two days now. If the rail system in NY floods, as it appears this is possible, markets may remain closed far longer than two-days.
A few random thoughts and a rather different post today and likely tomorrow at least. First thought after the safety of those impacted is what this means for the markets. In many ways we are experiencing a bank holiday. Where assets are frozen. No one can move their capital beyond those with access to electronic futures trading which continues a normal schedule from what I understand (except for equity index futures).
One problem with bank holidays is they create panic. No one likes having capital frozen, regardless of the reason. And with a lot of uncertainty right now, there may be more panic than normal. This may be why electronic equity index futures were halted as well. A rogue algo or selloff due to lack of liquidity would truly cause panic and a likely major gap down and possible test of circuit breakers upon the opening of normal market activity.
