Weekly Market Recap – August 30th, 2019
In the Markets
Going into Monday’s open, worries surrounded President Trump’s response to Chinese retaliatory tariffs when he called for an increase in tariff rates on $525 billion worth of imports. These worries were short-lived, however, as reports referencing communication between China and U.S. negotiators mentioning a restart of trade talks emerged from the White House. China denied these contacts made to U.S. negotiators, but did express a willingness to return to the negotiation table, refraining from a retaliatory move to President Trump’s call for a tariff increase.
Investor fears were further quelled by revisions to second quarter economic data. Consumer spending makes up an estimated 70% of U.S. GDP, and reports show an increase in consumer spending of 4.7% in the second quarter, the strongest gain in four years. The Dow Jones increased 3%, the S&P 500 climbed 2.8%, and the NASDAQ gained 2.7% on the week.
Precious metals posted substantial gains on the week, but they left gold behind as gold futures dropped half a percentage point. Silver gained 4.49%, palladium rose 5.31%, and platinum had the best performance of the sector, advancing 8.88%. This all occurred in conjunction with a strengthening USD, as Dollar Index futures gained 0.97% on the week. This strengthening was in contrast to the Euro which dropped against the USD, leading President Trump to again request more action from the Fed.
Crude oil gained on the week, with both Brent and WTI futures rising. Brent gained 1.84%, while WTI gained 1.72%. Heating oil also climbed on the week, up 0.69%, but gasoline futures dropped losing 1.79% through Friday. Natural gas performed well on the week, gaining 6.18%.
Agricultural commodities finished the week with mixed results. Soybeans gained 1.54% as optimism is again on the rise regarding U.S. China trade relations. Corn slipped slightly, losing 0.49%, while wheat dropped 2.89%. That morning cup of coffee was a little less sweet on the week as coffee gained 1.08% and milk finished up 0.11%, but sugar lost 2.88% on the week. Lean hogs rebounded gaining 7.12%.
World Cup Trading Championships
Durai Ramasamy continued to reign atop the leaderboard, finishing the week at a net return of 219.8%. Holger Groechel finished in second at a 175.6% net return, followed by Fabien Fischer in third with a net return of 110.3%. Takumaru Sakakibara finished the week close on Fischer’s heels with a net return 106.2%, and the top five was rounded out by Sadanand Katasabail with a net return of 71.1%.
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.