Weekly Market Recap – August 24th, 2018
In the Markets
In a week light with commodities news, the USD strengthened through the 15th before dropping off to end the week, with dollar index futures falling 0.96% on the week. Low level trade discussions between U.S. and Chinese officials were uneventful, leaving the world to wait for future meetings between leaders of the two economic superpowers.
Oil posted a strong rally this week, with WTI and Brent Crude futures both exceeding 5% increases on the week. Gasoline and heating oil both also increased, up 4.84% and 4.99% respectively, while natural gas fell 0.98%.
Despite a strong dollar and further fed rate hikes on the horizon, precious metals saw gains this week, with gold leading the charge up 2.46% as December futures break the $1,200/oz. level.
Soybeans and Corn both fell 4.2% on the week, while wheat plummeted on technical selling and weak export demand, falling 8.16%.
World Cup Trading Championships
The top three remained the same throughout the week, as Jan Smolen, Paul Skarp, and Kurt Sakaeda maintained the same positions from the 17th. Jan Smolen posted a 15% rally, reaching an August net return high of 145.9%. Paul Skarp finished in second behind Smolen with a net return of 118.3%, while Kurt Sakaeda finished in 3rd up 6% to 94.5%.
The final two spots were once again very contentious. The week began with Carlos Eisenberg in 4th, and Adrian Koemel in 5th, but that changed on Thursday when Petra Ilona Zacek took 4th followed by Graeme Adams in 5th. Graeme’s stint was short lived, as Fabien Fischer made his return to the top 5 by ending the week with a net return of 54.8%, while Petra held onto 4th place with her net return of 65.1%, rallying 15% in one day.
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.