Weekly Market Recap – February 15th, 2019

In the Markets

The S&P 500 climbed another 2.5% on the week, coming within 6% of its all-time high. The other two major U.S. equity indices followed suit, with the Dow Jones up 3.1% and the NASDAQ gaining 2.4%. Reports point to positive developments in the U.S. negotiations with China, including a potential extension for further talks past the original March 1st deadline. The U.S. government shutdown was avoided, as Congress and the President agreed to legislation preventing another closure.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a surge in job openings, including January marking the 10th consecutive month with openings exceeding exployment seekers, marking a tight employment market. Economic news was mixed, however, with retail sales dropping 1.2% in December, the largest decline since 2009.

Earnings reports have shown a 13% year over year growth with two thirds of S&P 500 reporting their fourth quarter results. This marks the fifth straight quarter of double-digit earnings growth.

Crude futures rebounded on the week, as WTI Crude gained 5.44% and Brent Crude rose 6.6%. Oil products also climbed, with gasoline up 8.75% and heating oil up 6.06%. Natural Gas finally had a positive week, rising by 1.63%.

Softs were a mixed bag, with sugar up 2.6% and cocoa gaining 4.84%, while coffee dropped 3.56% and cotton lost 2.47%. Soybeans and wheat both both dropped, down 0.77% and 2.51% respectively, while corn finished almost flat, up 0.13%.

Iron ore fell slightly from its recent gains, down 6.42% on the week. Silver fell 0.42%, while gold and platinum both posted gains, up 0.27% and 0.55% respectively.

World Cup Trading Championships

Eduardo Ramos continued his strong February performance, extending his lead, climbing to a net return of 140.8%. Princely Mathew jumped into second place, finishing the week with a 61.6% net return. 2016 WCTC finalist Marko Grcic retained 3rd place on the leaderboard, closing Friday at a net return of 56%. Fabian Fischer finished in 4th place with a net return of 49.5%, while defending champion Petra Ilona Zacek jumped into the top 5 with a net return of 28.4%.

Trading futures and forex involves significant risk of loss and is not suitable for everyone. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. World Cup Championship (WCC ) accounts do not necessarily represent all the trading accounts controlled by a given competitor. WCC competitors may control accounts that produce results substantially different than the results achieved in their WCC accounts. WCC entrants may trade more than one account in the competition.