Weekly Market Recap – May 11th, 2018
In the Markets
Having repeatedly stated his dissatisfaction with Obama era policies, President Trump officially pulled the United States from the Iran nuclear nonproliferation agreement. With the deal off the table, economic sanctions against Iran are potentially back on. Pending renegotiation, Iran exports could be heavily impacted by U.S. sanctions, especially their crude production. In the wake of this, the OPEC agreement on production cuts may be brought to the forefront as the world deals with the potential impact on global oil markets.
As meetings between Kim Jong-Un and President Trump inch closer, three U.S. citizens were released from North Korean prisons. As tensions in the Middle East grow, investors will be closely monitoring the potential cooling on the Korean Peninsula.
The April Consumer Price Index report showed a slower than expected inflation growth, quelling concerns of the Fed developing a more hawkish stance towards interest rates.
With markets facing supply pressure, crude oil continued to rally last week, posting a three year high as WTI June futures eclipsed $70 a barrel. Brent Crude also climbed, up 2.95% on the July futures, rising to $77.01 a barrel. Rising oil prices have a myriad of potential ramifications on other commodities, putting developments in the Middle East, home to more than 50% of the world’s oil reserves, at the center of the futures market.
Precious metals posted gains this week, despite the dollar also displaying strong performance, with the USD index reaching a new high of 93.26 on June futures contracts. Gold was up 0.35%, silver up 1.10%, and platinum up 1.57%.
In the stock market, the big three all rallied this week, continuing one of the longest bull markets in U.S. history. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 2.3%, the S&P 500 climbed 2.4%, and the NASDAQ rallied by 2.7%.
World Cup Trading Championships
Paul Skarp maintained his lead through May 11th, closing the week at a net return of 186.58%, up just over 8% on the week. His lead over Jan Smolen expanded from its year low last week, reaching a spread of 78.47%. Smolen stretched his second place streak to 22 trading days, closing the week at 108.11%, well within striking distance of Skarp’s lead. As markets face growing international pressure, the front runners in the WCTC look to hold up to the increasing pressure from the rest of the field.
Not only does the leaderboard have a new challenger among its ranks, but that challenger ascended to third place in just three days. Wayne Wan from Turkey posted a 47.5% net return on May 9th. He climbed another 30% by Thursday, only to rise once again by market close on Friday, finishing the week at a year-to-date return of 83.05%.
Artur Teregluv maintained his strong rally over the last 3 weeks, finishing his 12th trading day in a row on the leaderboard with a net return of 66.43%. Fifth place was a toss-up once again this week, as Fabian Fischer and Jonathan Brum da Silva fought to start the week, but it was Takumaru Sakakibara who took the reins, climbing back into the leaderboard with a return of 42.69%.
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.