Weekly Market Recap – July 12th, 2019
In the Markets
On Wednesday, Fed Chairman Jay Powell spoke before Congress in the semi-annual testimony on monetary policy. His testimony led many to interpret a pivot by the Fed to a dovish approach to the economy. The Chairman’s focus on poor growth in the first quarter, including slowing consumer spending and business investment growth, underscored investors’ expectations for a short term interest rate cut on July 31st. This sentiment remained, despite larger than expected increases in inflation indicators, including the Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index.
The European Central Bank alluded to a similar dovish approach, considering economic stimulus through interest-rate cuts or a return to quantitative easing. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 both soared to new all-time highs on the week, with the Dow Jones climbing 1.5% to surpass 27,000 and the S&P 500 breaking 3,000 with a 0.8% gain. The NASDAQ joined its fellow major indices with a 1% gain on the week.
Commodities posted gains across several sectors. Energy futures saw strong gains, with crude oil rebounding from recent losses as WTI climbed 4.69% and Brent crude rose 3.88%. Refined products followed suit as gasoline futures went up 2.46% and heating oil increased 3.94%. Natural gas posted gains for the fourth consecutive week, although this was the smallest move in time, up 1.45%.
With the exception of palladium, which fell 1.51%, precious metals gained on the week. Gold climbed 1.14%, silver rose 1.57%, and platinum led the group up 2.51%.
Soybeans, a key commodity in U.S-China trade, increased 6.41% , returning above 900 cents/bushel. Corn climbed 3.57%, while wheat moved up just 1.26%. A cup of coffee dropped on the week, with coffee futures falling 2.62%, sugar giving back 0.49%, and milk losing 0.17%.
World Cup Trading Championships
Durai Ramasamy and Kurt Sakaeda continue their duel atop the leaderboard, with Durai finishing in first with a 228.9% net return followed by Kurt’s net return of 180.5%. Holger Groechel ended the week in 3rd at a 151.9% net return, and Eduardo Ramos made the 4th trader finishing with a triple digit net return as he closed at 137.7%. Fabien Fischer rounded out the top 5 with his net return of 95.8%.
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.