Weekly Market Recap – August 16th, 2019

In the Markets

Equity markets began the week on a high note as the White House announced plans to delay the 10% tariff on Chinese goods until December 15th, giving investors’ growth concerns a brief reprieve. The dampening of negative market sentiment was short-lived, however, as major indices quickly dipped following concerning economic data from Germany and China. The German GDP shrunk by 0.1% in the second quarter, while Chinese urban unemployment rates reached their highest levels in July since regular data reporting began.

The negative outlook was exacerbated by a brief yield curve inversion as 10-year rates fell below two-year rates for the first time since 2007, and 30-year yields dropped to a record low near 2%. After advancing 0.26% on the week through Tuesday’s close, the S&P experienced a single day dip of 2.93% on Wednesday following the bearish global economic news. The S&P 500 finished the week down a total of 1%, while the Dow Jones slid 1.5% and the NASDAQ lost 0.8%.

Crude oil managed to stop the bleeding this week, posting its first positive week in almost a month. WTI Crude rose 0.68% while Brent futures eked out a 0.19% gain. Heating oil also recorded a minor climb, up 0.27%, but gasoline broke formation, dipping 1.03% on the week. Natural gas managed to post its best week since early July, advancing 3.82%.

Precious metals, with the exception of platinum’s 1.5% decline, posted gains on the week amidst fears of a slowing global economy. Gold rose a single percentage point, silver climbed 1.13%, and palladium increased 1.88%. Copper, despite a minor salve applied to the U.S-China trade conflicts, fell 0.27%.

With the August WASDE report’s release, agricultural commodities posted losses across the board. Lean hogs posted the most precipitous decline, losing 21.5% on the week. Corn and wheat also fell on reports of increased supply, lacking a corresponding demand increase to support prices. Corn fell 9.57% and wheat dropped 5.95%. Soybeans fared slightly better, dropping just 1.62% on the week. Coffee and sugar both fell, down 4.57% and 1.85% respectively, while milk finished about flat, up just 0.06%.

World Cup Trading Championships

As the traders work their way through the second half of the year, Durai Ramasamy continues to hold onto poll position, sitting atop the leaderboard with a net return of 222.8%. Holger Groechel continues his chase from second, ending the week with a net return of 165.8%. Takumaru Sakakibara finished in third with a net return of 130.9%, followed by Fabien Fischer and his net return of 111.8%. Ryan Alderson made an appearance on the leaderboard this week, rounding out the top five with a net return of 72.6%.

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.