In Brazil’s Market Meltdown, a Wave of Panic — Then Silence

As Brazilian markets went wild this week, trading desks fell silent.

Unlike previous scares that rocked Latin America’s biggest economy — a 50-minute selloff triggered by a blackout, for example, or fear a corruption scandal is getting ever closer to the presidency — this time around there’s no shouting as clients call demanding updates or computer screens explode with instant messages. Instead, panic has given way to a shocked silence as traders watch markets unravel, according to interviews with half a dozen brokerages.

“There’s a saying that helps explain our mood around here,” saidGuilherme Esquelbek, a currency trader at Correparti Corretora de Cambio in Curitiba, Brazil. “When the sea is this turbulent, the only thing you can do is sit on the sand and watch. It’s not time to get in a boat.”