Weekly Market Recap – September 7th, 2018
In the Markets
The effects of low level negotiations between Chinese and U.S. officials became apparent as the Trump administration announced intentions to place tariffs on all Chinese goods imported into the United States. Two of the big three indices reacted strongly as the S&P 500 dropped 1%, and the NASDAQ plummeted 2.6% on the back of tech selloffs. The Dow Jones made it through the week only falling 0.2%.
The employment report showed 201,000 jobs added in August, with the unemployment rate remaining at 3.9%. Wages, which have continually shown slow growth despite a tight jobs market, rose $0.10 in August. With further Fed rate hikes on the horizon, the USD strengthened on the week, sending precious metals down, with gold, platinum, and silver dropping 0.52%, 0.85%, and 2.66% respectively.
The two highest volume crude oil contracts went in separate directions this week, as WTI futures dropped 2.94%, but Brent futures rose 2.93%. With the long weekend marking the end of summer traveling, gasoline futures dropped 1.35%. Heating oil fell 1.11%. Soybeans held flat, only moving up 0.06%, while corn rose 0.55%. CBOT wheat made a dramatic move, falling 6.28% on grim export prospects. The biggest moves in soft commodities were shown by sugar’s 3.87% rise, and cocoa’s 3.3% fall.
World Cup Trading Championships
The top 3 continued their reign, as once again the week ended with Jan Smolen on top, followed by Paul Skarp and Kurt Sakaeda. The top two both climbed over 12%, with Smolen finishing at 154.6% and Skarp closing at 129%. Kurt Sakaeda, who has held onto 3rd place for 16 straight trading days, finished the week at 81.3%.
The rest of the leaderboard began in the hands of Graeme Adams in 4th and Adrian Koemel in 5th place. Petra Ilona Zacek temporarily regained a foothold in 5th place on Wednesday’s close, until Koemel vaulted back into 4th place by weeks end with a net return of 51.5%. Koemel was joined by Ryan Alderson, who made his first top 5 posting with a return of 43.4%.
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.