Weekly Market Recap – December 7th, 2018
In the Markets
Volatility spiked last week, as Monday equities rallied, before dropping substantially on Tuesday. Thursday saw a potential recovery, before the major indices fell again to close Friday. On the week, the Dow Jones fell 4.5%, the S&P 500 dropped 4.6%, and the NASDAQ lost 4.9%.
While the U.S. and China recently announced the 90 day ceasefire to work out a trade deal, investors expressed worry that the March 1st deadline was too close on the horizon for the economic superpowers to work through years of major trade issues. Throwing a potential wrench into these trade negotiations was the arrest of Huawei Technologies’ CFO Meng Wanzhou based on the Chinese company’s alleged violation of U.S. trade sanctions on Iran.
Additionally, a portion of the yield curve inverted, as three-year yields rose above five-year yields for the first time since 2007. The U.S. November Jobs report showed 155,000 jobs added, down from the 200,000 per month average over the last half a year.
In energy markets, Qatar, which has dealt with a blockade from Saudi Arabia, announced that it will leave OPEC to concentrate on its natural gas business. Remaining OPEC members came to a decision on Friday, December 7th to cut crude oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day. In response WTI and Brent crude futures rallied slightly from their bearish last two months, moving up on the week 3.3% and 4.47% respectively. Natural Gas, which had enjoyed bullish moves in this same time period, fell 2.69% on the week.
Precious metals gold and silver showed strong performance on the week, with the yellow metal up 2.17%, and silver futures climbing 3.37%. Grains and soybeans also posted gains, with corn up 2.05%, wheat up 3.01%, and soybeans rising 2.46%. The USD cooled off this week, which gave a favorable lift to commodities.
World Cup Trading Championships
The WCTC leaderboard also showed substantial volatility, as traders shuffled for position entering the final stretch. Petra Ilona Zacek, however, was untouched by her fellow competitors’ moves as she remained firmly in first place, closing Friday with a 221% net return on the year. Ryan Alderson moved into second place with a net return of 91.1%, followed by Paul Skarp in third place at 73.9%. Adrian Koemel was next with a net return of 57.3%, while Fabian Fischer returned to the leaderboard for the first time since October on the back of a 54.7% 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.