For the big money on Wall Street, there is the preparation that necessarily goes with a coin toss election it could radically change policy. Trading desks were open all night, with teams from Hong Kong and Singapore mobilized to help. Popular following “Trump exchanges” – long the dollar, short the bonds – ready to accumulate or unwind quickly.

And then there are the measures taken for an electoral period like no other. A London-based hedge fund has prepared its “shock” computer model especially for this moment. Banks are bracing for the risks, however remote, of civic violence – a prospect that would shake the United States, the world and global financial markets.