Traders Sneeze, Peso Catches Cold—or Flu

Peso trading is taking a hit as Mexico City brokerages, wary of spreading the flu, send home anyone who so much as sneezes, Bloomberg reports. Face masks litter the floor at one brokerage, whose daily trading volume is down 30%, as traders furiously scrub their desks in an attempt to kill germs. "You sneeze, you go home,” says one trader.

“We can’t really do anything about it because we’re stuck in here,” says another trader whose firm has a slightly less draconian sneeze policy. "Everyone wants to be at home," notes another. The peso normally trades at a rate of $15 billion a day, but two Mexico City firms report a 30% dropoff as a consequence of anti-virus activities. (More Mexico stories.)