Weekly Market Recap – April 12th, 2019

In the Markets

The International Monetary Fund cut its global growth forecast from 3.5% to 3.3%, while the United Kingdom avoided immediate Brexit repercussions, delaying the deadline to October 31st. The default decision, if nothing changes in the coming 6 months, remains a “No-Deal Brexit”, with no firm trade plan between the UK and the EU. Numerous options are still on the table, including a renegotiated Brexit deal, and a canceling of Brexit. The path to those decisions remains murky, with even the possibility of a new referendum.

Meanwhile, March data out of China hinted at a rebound in economic activity. As first quarter earnings reports are on the horizon, strong performance in certain sectors lead to the S&P 500 to finally close above the 2900 level, up 0.5% on the week. The NASDAQ also rose on the week, up 0.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished flat.

Crude oil extended its streak of gains, with WTI futures up 1.14% and Brent crude climbing 1.75%. Oil products followed suit, with gasoline futures advancing 2.96%. Heating oil’s growth was more muted, gaining 1.26%. Natural gas continued its trend of beginning the trading week with gains, only to fall back down by Friday’s close. It netted a loss of 0.38% on the week.

Platinum’s gains the week prior cooled off as the precious metal was down 1.08%. It retained the majority of those gains, but fell back below 900/t oz. Silver also fell on the week, down 1.07%, while gold edged slightly upwards, gaining 0.25%. Copper rebounded this week, up 1.73% through Friday.

Agricultural commodities saw several losses, with soybeans, corn, and wheat all dipping slightly on the week. Wheat saw the steepest drop of 0.67%, followed by corn futures at 0.52%, and soybeans at 0.36%.

Lean hogs, having already posted gains at a furious pace due to a swine flu outbreak in China, finished the week with another steep climb. Lean hogs futures gained another 13.1% on the week, as the contract is up more than 50% over the past month. China consumes 49% of the world’s pork, leading experts to worry about the severe impact this outbreak could continue to have on prices.

World Cup Trading Championships

The top 4 remained the same this week, as Eduardo Ramos continued his stay atop the leaderboard for another week, closing Friday with a net return of 198.4%. Andrei Balanescu finished in second with a net return of 110.4%, followed again by Holly Springs Pharmacy and its net return of 96.4%. Lukas Schreiber retained 4th place with a net return of 74.1%. Lananh Dang was the sole position change to the leaderboard this week, taking 5th place with a net return of 71.4%.

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.