Weekly Market Recap – November 2nd, 2018

In the Markets

U.S. equities experienced an anticipated rebound from recent losses, with both the Dow Jones and S&P 500 gaining 2.4% on the week and returning to positive territory for year to date movement. The NASDAQ also gained, up 2.6% on the week. Positive jobs report data potentially aided this market response, with 250,000 jobs added in October, while unemployment remained at 3.7%., and wages grew 0.2%. Additional uplifting news came in the form of trade tensions easing between the U.S. and China, as President Trump reported a conversation with Chinese President Xi, with further confirmations of the two leaders meeting at the G-20 summit in Argentina.

While crude oil had looked at two weeks of losses in response to Saudi Arabia’s potential production increase, both Brent and WTI futures experienced substantially greater losses in the last week with sanctions against Iran beginning. Brent futures dropped 6.19%, and WTI futures fell 6.58%. Gasoline and heating oil followed suit, dropping 5.72% and 5.67% respectively. Natural gas, however, gained 1.01% on the week.

After a string of losses following highs reached early in the year, lumber surged back, up 11.15%. Soybeans were another top performer in commodities, gaining 3.53%. Corn and wheat futures saw modest gains of 0.95% and 0.69% respectively, while sugar lost 2.89%.

Gold lost 0.25% as the USD continues to show strength, while silver rose 0.38%. Platinum outpaced precious metals though, rising 4.95%.

World Cup Trading Championships

Petra Ilona Zacek continued her strong performance last week, extending her lead and growing her net return to a high for the year of 206.1%. Kurt Sakaeda also made a strong showing, returning to second place on the polls for the first time since July. The former WCTC champion ended the week with a net return of 110.1%, keeping Petra’s lead below triple digits.

Paul Skarp maintained his position in third place, closing at 105.2%. Carlos Eisenberg made a return to the top 5, having been absent through September and October, closing the week at 98.9%. Archie Ma rounded out the leaderboard with a net return of 94.1%.

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.