Weekly Market Recap – June 14th, 2019
In the Markets
Equities remained stable this week as the U.S. and Mexico reached an agreement to avoid the proposed tariffs on all imports from Mexico. The markets were also bolstered by continued expectations regarding a Fed rate cut, as well as optimism surrounding U.S.-China meetings at the G-20 summit at the end of June. Additionally, the Consumer Price Index for May showed muted inflation growth of just 0.1%. This cocktail of positive sentiment pushed the S&P 500 up 0.5%, the Dow Jones up 0.4%, and the NASDAQ up 0.7%.
Crude oil markets did not experience the same effects of investor confidence in the wake of global trade tensions. Crude oil’s drop has continued since the breakdown of U.S. China trade negotiations, with Brent futures falling another 2.02% on the week, and WTI crude dropping 2.74%. Both contracts did experience gains on Thursday and Friday, as Wednesday’s close had Brent down 5.25% on the week and Crude slipping 5.28%. This recovery followed U.S. accusations against Iran for the attack of two oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, increasing supply concerns.
Oil products did not follow crude’s path, with gasoline only dropping 0.37%, and heating oil eking out a gain of 0.25% on the week. Natural Gas lead the energy sector, seeing a rebound of 2.14% on the week.
With the recent WASDE report dropping on June 11th, corn futures led agricultural commodities gaining 8.96% amidst planting complications throughout the corn belt. Wheat gained 7.2%, while Soybeans gained just 4.82% with little change to the soybean yield. Sugar gained 2% on the week, while coffee dropped significantly, down 4.9%. Lean hogs returned above $80/lb., gaining 3.43% to $81.35/lb.
Gold finished almost flat on the week, down just 0.08%. Platinum fell 0.32%, while silver’s losses were more pronounced at 1.09%. Palladium far outpaced the other precious metals, with futures soaring 8.12% on the week. Copper moved ever so slightly, up just 0.19%.
World Cup Trading Championships
This trading week finished with the same two leaders, with Durai Ramasamy atop the leaderboard at a net return of 238.4%, followed by Kurt Sakaeda and his 124.2% net return. Holger Groechel returned to the top 5 this week with a net return of 90%, followed by defending champion Petra Ilona Zacek and her 81.2% net return. The top 5 was rounded out by 2017 futures runner-up Takumaru Sakakibara and his 78.8% net return.
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.