FTSE 250 Downtrend Replay (1998-06-09 to 1998-10-08)
Replay the 1998 FTSE 250 from June to October, watching the index fall 13.1% across daily decision points. Step into the tape bar-by-bar, face four critical choices, and receive an AI coach review of your simulated trades.
150 daily bars · 11 decision points · 1998-04 to 1998-11 · Stocks
Key facts
This window spans 212 days with a peak-to-trough drawdown of 28.8% and a 16.9% run-up.
- Max drawdown
- −28.8%
- Max run-up
- +16.9%
- Duration
- 212 days
- Largest single-day move
- −3.3%
- Bars
- 150 Daily bars
- Decision points
- 11
Every figure above is computed programmatically from this replay’s own candle series — no editorial input, no LLM. Methodology: Methodology
The market advances day by day. You only see candles up to the current day — as if you were really there.
At key decision points choose Buy / Trim / Exit / Hold. Each decision advances the timeline by one day.
After settlement you get a six-dimension score and an AI coach review. Your result enters the scenario leaderboard.
Event Replay
What happened — and what it teaches
The FTSE 250 entered the summer of 1998 at a critical juncture. Against a backdrop of spreading financial stress from Asia and early signs of the tech bubble deflating, traders faced eleven decision points across daily bars, four of which would prove critical. The index hovered around 5570 at the start of this replay window, with 150 trading days stretching from late April through mid-November, placing participants inside one of the decade's most treacherous periods for UK mid-caps.
What unfolded was a sustained downdraft that tested every assumption about holding positions. The close fell from 5570.5 to 4843, a decline of -13.1%, but the real story lay in the damage along the way. Maximum drawdown reached 28.8%, meaning anyone holding through the worst moments experienced losses far exceeding the headline figure. The largest single-bar move of 3.3% showed that panic could arrive in sudden bursts, not just gradual erosion. By early October, the index had carved out its lows before beginning the slow process of recovery.
This replay strips away hindsight to confront the fundamental challenge: distinguishing between temporary dislocations and structural breaks under uncertainty. Participants must practice sizing positions knowing max drawdown can dwarf simple percentage declines, while resisting the twin pitfalls of premature capitulation and stubborn averaging-down. The 1990s offered no shortage of false dawns, and this scenario captures why disciplined process—rather than prediction—determines longevity in markets.
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