Weekly Market Recap – November 8th, 2019
In the Markets
US equities finished higher for the fifth straight week as the S&P 500 gained 0.9%, the NASDAQ climbed 1.1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2% as the stock market again set new record highs on the week. This growth was spurred on by a mixture of better-than-expected corporate earnings and positive developments in trade negotiations. Additionally, treasury yields climbed to their highest in three months as a sell-off sent the 2-yr yield rising by ten basis points (bp) to 1.66% and the 10-yr yield rising 20 bp to 1.93%.
Through Friday, 90% of S&P 500 companies had reported their third quarter earnings, with an estimated 78% of those companies reported exceeding depressed expectations. Corporate profits fell 1% year-to-date through November 8th: however, the degree that the reports were better-than-expected was significant enough to spark further bullish sentiment in equities. This combined with positive reports from US-China trade negotiations, including Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross stating that “good progress” was being made in “Phase One” of the negotiations. The optimistic take was shared by Chinese officials as well, with China’s Commerce Ministry announcing an agreement with the U.S. for both sides to phase out tariffs.
An odd occurrence happened in the crude oil markets, as crude futures gained while crude products fell on the week. WTI crude and Brent crude gained 1.85% and 1.33% respectively, as gasoline and heating oil diverged from the sector. Gasoline lost 1.33% on the week and heating oil dropped 0.78%. As forecasts signifying lower temperatures sat on the horizon, combined with lower-than-expected inventory injection, natural gas gained another 2.76% on the week.
Precious metals moved together this week, posting losses across the board. Silver and platinum were finished lock-step with one another, with silver dropping 6.81% and platinum dropping 6.8%. Gold fell 3.21% on the week while palladium dropped 3.84%. Copper managed to escape the week with gains as it rose 1.09% as tensions between the US-China cool off.
Despite positive developments in global trade between the US and China, soybeans fell 0.67% on the week. Wheat also dropped, losing 0.92%, while corn plummeted on the week, dropping 3.08%. Sugar gained 0.72%, while coffee increased by 5.24%. The market’s morning coffee was light on dairy, as milk lost 0.84% on the week. Lean hogs also dropped, falling 0.51%.
World Cup Trading Championships
Durai Ramasamy reclaimed the lead in the World Cup Trading Championships, jumping over Sadanand Kalasabail to finish in first place with a net return of 200%. Sadanand held onto second place with a net return of 181.8%, followed by Ryan Alderson’s third-best 168% net return. Eduardo Ramos closed the week with a net return of 127.3%, with Fabien Fischer finishing just over two percentage points behind him with a net return of 125.1%.
In the Global Cup, Wayne Wan continued to pace the field with his 191% net return. Jan Smolen finished in second with a net return of 141.4%, followed by Stefan Seibert and his 99% net return. Maxim Schulz finished in fourth place, ending the week with a net return of 84%. The top five was rounded out by Michael Cook and his 81.9% net return.
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.