The Black Monday 1987. One of the most famous days in the stock exchange history around the world. The most expensive US stock index Dow Jones Industrial Average loses over 22% of its value within a day. A terrifying day for US finances, but one of the best for Paul Tudor Jones - a trader, who manages to triple his money during the business day. Through short sales of one of the largest US companies, he was able to make a profit of $ 100 million in a day.
On Monday, March 9, the situation was very similar to a panic stock crash, as the opening of the stock exchange in New York was delayed by 20 minutes and the futures markets repeatedly stopped trading due to fears of further crashes.
During the last few days the financial markets have suffered the worst losses since the last global crisis we have experienced in 2008. The more worrying conclusion is that the COVID-19 virus outbreaks are unlikely to be alleviated, and it will deepen further. This puts markets and market players in a special position that favors the short sales, which aim to gain profits from future depreciation of stocks, indices, and commodities.
What are the most affected companies and sectors?
The worrying conclusion is that not only one, but many sectors have made losses so far, but the most affected are the shares of the companies from the airline industry, restaurants, leisure and hotels stocks, banks and automobiles industries.
Global airliner stocks are down 24% from January 17, and earlier this month, Europe's largest regional carrier, Flybe, went bankrupt jonly two month after the UK government announced a rescue plan. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has announced that it estimates that the global passenger aviation industry will lose up to $113bn in revenue in a widespread COVID-19 scenario.
According to an analysis by Bloomberg and the Saxo Group, which shows the 30 companies in the S&P 1200 Global index with the highest current 1-year default rate, the worst potential shares, apart from airlines, are the companies of the metal and automotive industries, which should not be that big a surprise as these industries have very high sensitivity to the coronavirus.
Perhaps the most disturbing fact of this analysis is that headwinds are also significant for the European banking system. Over the last 12 years, policymakers have failed to strengthen the banks and the ECB never paid interest on excess reserve like the Fed so European banking system never really healed. In the worst case scenario, a possible recession will lead to something quite unpleasant for the industry, with the potential for a new round of ECB stimulus.
Another major loser on the market are the oil companies, whose profits depend directly on the price of black gold. On March 9, oil recorded its largest one-day decrease in nearly 30 years, sinking by 24%.
How to profit from a stock prices fall?
A Contract for Difference (CFD) is a regulated financial instrument that allows share price trading. In other words, when trading CFDs, market participants try to profit from the change in the stock price without actually holding a real stock.
CFDs allow you to buy and sell. Because only the asset price is traded, one can sell CFDs on Apple shares, for example, without owning those shares.
Ideas for stock trading in BenchMark
The following table includes some companies that are offered for trading in the MetaTrader 5 platform:
| Name | Code in МТ5 | Margin | Commission |
| Alcoa Corp. | #Alcoa | 20% | $0.05/share |
| Apple Inc. | #Apple | 20% | $0.05/share |
| Boeing Company | #Boeing | 20% | $0.05/share |
| Booking Holdings Inc. | #Booking | 20% | $0.05/share |
| Commerzbank AG | #Commerzbnk | 20% | 0.10% |
| Deutsche Bank AG | #DeutscBank | 20% | 0.10% |
| Deutsche Lufthansa AG | #Lufthansa | 20% | 0.10% |
| Exxon Mobil Corp. | #ExxonMobil | 20% | $0.05/share |
| Ford Motor Co. | #Ford | 20% | $0.05/share |
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. | #JPMorgan | 20% | $0.05/share |
| Tesla Inc. | #TeslaMotor | 20% | $0.05/share |
| Volkswagen AG | #Volkswagen | 20% | 0.10% |
A full list of BenchMark's MetaTrader 5 platform shares can be found here.
Trading conditions
BenchMark offers a wide variety of CFDs under excellent trading conditions in the MetaTrader 5 platform:
| Min. trading volume | from 1 share (1 lot) |
| Margin requirement | from 10% |
| Commissions | $0.05/share |
| Min. commissions | No min. commissions |
| Automatic execution | YES |
| Hedging without margin | YES |
| Long/Short positions | YES |
| Stop/Limit orders restrictions | NO |
| Expert Advisors | YES, without restrictions |
| Real-time quotes | YES, completely free |
This publication is not prepared according to the rules for preparation of investment research. The information provided is not and should not be considered as a recommendation, advice, investment research or investment decision consultation, recommendation to follow a particular investment strategy or be taken as a guarantee for future performance. BenchMark uses public sources of information and is not responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the information, as well as for the period of its relevance after the publication of the analysis or strategy. Trading with financial instruments carries risk and can lead to both profits and losses.