Weekly Market Recap – November 15th, 2019

In the Markets

“U.S. stocks reach a new high” has been a reoccurring headline in equity markets, and this most recent week was no different. U.S. stocks climbed for the sixth week in a row, which is the longest streak in the last two years. The NASDAQ gained 0.8%, the S&P 500 rose 0.9%, and the Dow Jones advanced 1.2%, putting all three indices above a 20% year to date return in 2019. The Dow Jones has gained 20.1% in 2019, the S&P 500 has climbed 24.5% year to date, and the NASDAQ has climbed 28.7%. Despite numerous political issues dominating the news cycle, sentiment surrounding markets has remained positive.

Developments in US-China trade relations continue to be seen with an optimistic eye as the two superpowers work for a deal. With the third quarter earnings reports wrapped up, focus turned back to other sources of economic data. October retail sales, reported by the National Retail Federation, were up 0.2% since September, and 4.2% year-over-year. Additionally, the Purchasing Manager’s Index increased for the third straight month as global manufacturing attempts to move out of its recent slump.

Crude oil advanced for the second straight week, and for the third in the last four weeks. WTI rose 0.84% while Brent crude gained 1.26%. Heating oil followed suit, up 1.56%, while gasoline finished the week almost flat, moving up just 0.08%. Natural gas, however, fell back below 2.7/MMBtu as it lost 3.62% on the week.

Gold, silver, and platinum all posted modest gains on the week. Silver saw the most significant climb, up 0.74%, while gold rose 0.38% and platinum 0.3%. Palladium broke from this trend, falling for the second consecutive week as futures lost 2.22%. Copper also slipped, falling 1.64%.

Agricultural commodities also displayed weakness on the week. Soybeans lost 1.3%, corn dropped 1.59%, and wheat fell 1.45%. Coffee also fell, down 3.02%, while sugar and milk both posted gains on the week. Sugar ticked up 1.27% and milk futures climbed 1.15%.

World Cup Trading Championships

Poll position in the World Cup Trading Championship again changed hands on the week, with Sadanand Kalasabail regaining first place thanks to a 228.5% net return. The leaderboard shake-up extended to second place, which went to Ryan Alderson and his 171.2% net return. Durai Ramasamy held onto a place on the top five, finishing the week in third place with a 145.5%. Eduardo Ramos closed Friday in fourth place, with his gap behind Durai narrowed to single digits due to his 136.7% net return. Closing out the top five was Fabien Fischer’s 125.1% net return.

In the Global Cup, Wayne Wan ended the week with a tournament-best 195.9% net return. Jan Smolen held onto second place with his 187.6% net return, followed by third-place trader Stefan Seibert who ended Friday at a net return of 101.6%. The Global Cup leaderboard was punctuated by Maxim Schulz and Michael Cook, who finished with net returns of 92.1% and 90.1% respectively.

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.