Weekly Market Recap – December 24, 2020

In the Markets

After a couple of weekly reports showing that new jobless claims were increasing, the figure fell with 803,000 requests for unemployment benefits. The previous week had 892,000 initial claims. Americans who continue to be out of work now number 20.36 million; there were 20.65 million the previous week. Economic statistic releases, compared to their prior levels, were as follows: the consumer confidence index was 88.6 vs. 92.9, durable goods orders were 0.9% vs. 1.8%, core capital goods were 0.4% vs. 1.6%, personal income for November was down 1.1% (October had been 0.6%) and consumer spending fell 0.4% vs. +0.3%. At the end of the week, December’s US COVID-19 death toll was 63,000 Americans. By comparison, there were 36,000 US coronavirus deaths in the entire month of November. The stimulus legislation worked out by Congress includes a government shutdown prevention measure. The bill is awaiting President Trump’s signature. Britain and the E.U. reached a trade agreement on Brexit, after months of negotiations.

Stock market activity was relatively flat, however, equities investors kept the indices nudging historic levels, as the Russell 2000 hit a new all-time high. Its Friday close of 160.64 was up 3.35 (+2.1%) for the week. The DJIA managed a small up move of 20.82 (+0.1%), closing at 30,199.87 on Friday. The S&P 500 eased, losing 6.35 points (-0.2%), settling at 3,703.06 on the close. The NASDAQ Composite’s 49.09 rise (+0.4%) took it to 12,804.73 at settlement. CBOE’s VIX was fractionally higher by 0.16 points (+0.7%) to 21.73 at week’s end. The US Dollar Index also rose slightly, ending up 0.40 points (+0.4%) with its 90.32 close. After rising every week since October 30, S&P’s GSCI slipped by 3.35 (-0.8%) to 404.66 on Friday.

Metal futures prices declined, as gold futures shed $5.70 (-0.3%), ending at $1,883.20 per troy ounce. Silver eased $0.125 (-0.5%) to its $25.908 settlement price. Platinum and palladium gave back a bit more than gold and silver. The former fell $14.20 (-1.4%) to its $1,028.90 close, while the latter dropped to $2,345.90 (-1.1%) with a loss of $26.10 for March delivery. The base metals that we cover in our recap also weakened, as well. Copper retreated 7.0¢ (-1.9%) to close at $3.5625 per pound. LME aluminum for 3-month delivery declined $26.50 dollars per ton, ending at $2,030.00 (-1.3%).

In the energy sector, the markets we report here all moved lower for the week. In percentage terms, the largest selloff came in the January natural gas, losing 18.2¢ (-6.7%), and the closing bell left the price at $2.518 per MMBtu. The petroleum complex has been in a steady uptrend since early November. NYMEX February WTI ended Friday’s session at $48.23, down $1.01 (-2.1%). In a similar move, front-month ICE Brent declined 1.9%, losing $0.97 to settle at $51.29 per barrel. Refined products slumped, as well. January heating oil lost 2.30¢ to close at $1.4900 (-1.5%), while RBOB gasoline slipped 1.67¢, settling at $1.3789 (-1.2%).

Agricultural product price direction was higher. Of the nine products we regularly include in this category, cotton was the only one that decreased. March cotton fell by 0.96¢ (-1.2%), going out at 76.20¢ per pound. Coffee prices improved 0.70¢ (+0.6%) with the March ICE futures ending the week at $1.2595 per pound. Cocoa gained $87 (+3.5%), settling at $2,593 per metric ton. Sugar finally broke upwards, out of its holding pattern by 0.46¢ (+3.2%) to its 14.90¢/lb. close. In the Chicago markets, cattle firmed 0.125 (+0.1%) to 114.975, while hog futures moved 1.150 higher (+1.7%) closing at 66.950¢/lb. at the week’s end. The CBT grains and oilseeds continued to strengthen. Soybeans and corn both made new highs for the year. The March beans gained 3.3% with a 40½¢ move to $12.64½, while the corn increased 13½ ¢ (+3.1%) to a $4.51 settlement for March delivery. The price of March wheat also added 3.1% with a 18¾¢ rally for the week, but it wasn’t enough to break above the $6.37¾ top printed back on October 21st; wheat closed at $6.27 per bushel.

World Cup Trading Championships®

In Futures, Stefan Seibert held 1st with a 347% net return. Brent Carlile remained in 2nd with a net return of 283.4%. Michael O’Keeffe finished the week in 3rd with a net return of 251%. Yuwen Cao and Evgeny Kartashov rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 224.3% and 165.8% respectively.

In the Forex division, Jan Smolen claimed the top spot with a 111.5% net return. Scott Welsh finished the week in 2nd with a 78.7% net return, with Sergey Shirko in 3rd with a net return of 77.6%. Irwan Ariston and Raul Glavan rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 65.5% and 47.5% respectively.

In the futures division of the 2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship, Stefan Seibert claimed first with a net return of 149.3%. M. Vontobel of Tirutrade AG held 2nd with a 144.2% net return. 3rd place is currently held by Cristian Franchi with a net return of 134.2%. Jan Smolen and Fernando C. Piñeiro finished the week in 4th and 5th with 127.3% and 94.1% net returns respectively.

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Weekly Market Recap – December 31, 2020

In the Markets

This shortened holiday week was also short on economic statistics. The weekly initial jobless claims were 835,000 vs. 803,000 the previous week. Pandemic statistics are continuing to worsen; the US death toll is now more than 350,000. The stimulus bill was signed. The Brexit trade separation between UK and the EU is now a reality.

This week, our recap highlights the final 2020 year-end changes in the markets we cover. For the weekly changes, the DJIA rose 406.61 (+1.3%), closing at 30,606.48 on Friday: (YTD +7.2%). The S&P 500 added 53.01 points, ending at 3,756.07 (+1.4%): (YTD +16.3%). The NASDAQ Composite closed the week 83.55 higher (+0.7%) at 12,888.28: (YTD +43.6%); and the Russell 2000 slipped 1.5% with a 2.37 decrease for the week, taking it to 123.53 at the close: (YTD + 18.9%). Volatility rose in stocks last week as CBOE’s VIX rose 1.02 (+4.7%), ending on Friday at 22.75: (YTD +65.1%). The US Dollar Index reversed the previous week’s gain, easing 0.4 (-0.4%) with an 89.92 settlement: (YTD -6.8%). Commodity prices that make up the S&P GSCI returned to their aggregate upward trend adding 4.79 points (+1.2%) and closed at a ten-month high of 409.45: (YTD -6.8%).

In the metals sector, the week saw a divergence between the precious and base categories. Copper and aluminum, having shown steady physical demand in recent weeks, both took a downturn. CME copper lost 4.35¢ (1.2%), closing at $3.5190/lb.: (YTD +24.5%). LME aluminum eased $50.50 to $1,979.50/ton (-2.5%): (YTD +29.4%). On the other hand, the bullion markets stayed in the plus column. Friday’s February gold close was $1,895.10 from its $11.90 rise (+0.6%): (YTD +22.2%). Silver traders applied a bit more buying pressure, raising the price by 50.4¢ (+1.9%) to a $26.412 settlement: (YTD +44.6%). January platinum fared even better for the week (+4.5%), adding $46.50 to end at $1,075.40 per ounce: (YTD +8.3%). Palladium prices followed suit, as March contracts advanced $107.90 (+4.6%), closing at $2,453.80/oz.: (YTD +29.4%).

Energy futures ended the month, and year, with a week that was uneventful, but all the products we follow here showed consistent YTD weakness. February WTI closed at $48.52, which was up 29¢ (+0.6%). ICE Brent firmed 0.9%, gaining 46¢ to settle at $51.80 per barrel. The YTD change for these crude oil benchmarks was down 14.03% for the former, and down 15.94% for the latter. Refined products were mixed, as heating oil lost 1.37¢ cents to close at $1.4763 (-0.9%): (YTD -25.6%), while RBOB gasoline rose 2.95¢ cents (+2.1%), settling at $1.4084: (YTD -25.1%). Natural gas traders took a breather from the winter forecast tug-of-war, settling the February contract at $2.539 per MMBtu. The percentage move was a 1.1% increase for the week and a 2.45% loss, year-to-date.

In our overview for the agricultural commodities that we follow here, all nine increased for the week, although, on the YTD scale, it was six up vs. three down. The softs showed strength, mostly on the back of the weakening US dollar, with coffee up 2.30 to 128.25 (+1.8%) from the previous Friday: (YTD -4.3%). Sugar shot into the 15¢ level, rallying 0.59¢ (+4.0%) to its 15.49 settlement: (YTD +13.4%). Cocoa, for the week, added only $10 (+0.4%), closing at $2,603 per ton: (YTD +5.5%). March cotton increased 1.92¢ (+2.5%) to end at 78.12: (YTD +10.1%). In the livestock, cattle futures had a fractional gain of 0.050 (+0.04%) to a 115.025 close: (YTD -3.0%). Hogs ended at 70.275 for February, increasing 3.325 (+5.0%): (YTD -6.4%). Wheat settled at $6.40½ per bushel, up 13½¢ (+2.2%): (YTD +33.8%). Corn, with its $4.94 close, advanced 33¢ (+7.3%) for the week. Soybeans went out at $13.11 after rallying 46½¢ (+3.7%): (YTD +33.8%).

World Cup Trading Championships®

In Futures, Stefan Seibert finished in 1st with a 342.3% net return. Brent Carlile took 2nd with a net return of 287.9%. Yuwen Cao took 3rd with a net return of 262.9%. Michael O’Keeffe and Evgeny Kartashov rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 249% and 165.8% respectively. (Final Pending Audit)

In the Forex division, Jan Smolen finished in 1st with a 113.9% net return. Scott Welsh took 2nd with a 78.7% net return, followed by Sergey Shirko taking 3rd with a net return of 61.8%. Irwan Ariston and Oliver Bjoerklund rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 51% and 19.7% respectively. (Final Pending Audit)

In the futures division of the 2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship, M. Vontobel of Tirutrade AG moved up to 1st with a net return of 157.4%. Jan Smolen finished the week in 2nd with a 139.5% net return. 3rd place is currently held by Stefan Seibert with a net return of 135%. Cristian Franchi and Fernando C. Piñeiro finished the week in 4th and 5th with 107.8% and 91.1% net returns respectively.

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Weekly Market Recap – January 8, 2021

In the Markets

The December non-farm payroll figure came in as a drop of 140,000 vs. November’s 336,000 increase, despite analysts’ average expectation of +50,000. Initial jobless claims were practically unchanged, amounting to 787,000 vs. 790,000 in the previous week’s report; Wall Street analysts had expected an average of 815,000. As a monthly percentage, the unemployment rate in December was 6.7%, unchanged from the November report. The November balance of trade level showed that the deficit grew by $5 billion, as the net came in at -$68.1 billion, compared to -$63.1 billion for October. Construction spending for November was reported to have risen by 0.9% (vs. October’s +1.6%). November factory orders rose 1.0% (vs. +1.3% for October).

More than 370,000 coronavirus deaths have been reported nationwide. On Thursday, the one-day US death toll surpassed 4,000 for the first time. A mutant strain of the coronavirus that has been spreading in UK has been detected in Colorado, California, Florida, Georgia and New York.

The two major metals groups diverged in pricing, as the precious sector retreated while the industrials advanced. Silver was the weakest of the bullion markets, with March contracts sinking $1.775 (-6.7%), ending the week at $24.637 per ounce. April gold backed off $59.70 (-3.2%) with a final price of $1,835.40 at week’s end. March palladium lost $88.80 (-3.6%) to $2,365.00 and April platinum only slipped 0.7%, as it decreased $7.90 to $1,071.30/oz. The base metals we highlight in this recap both firmed; CME copper added 15.45¢ (+4.4%) settling at $3.6735 per pound and LME aluminum for three-month delivery ended the week at $2,021.50/ton, a gain of $42.00 (+2.1%).

Tightening crude supplies, related to Saudi Arabia’s additional production cuts announced early in the week, sending oil markets sharply higher. NYMEX WTI ended the week at $52.24 by rallying $3.72 (+7.7%), and ICE Brent shot up $4.19 (+8.1%) to settle at $55.99 per barrel. The strength took both markets to levels not seen since early February 2020. Refined products soared, as well; heating oil gained 9.50¢ to close at $1.5804 (+6.4%), while RBOB gasoline gained 12.51¢ (+8.8%), settling at $1.5405 (+8.8%). February natural gas futures have corrected 19% from the contract low established on 12/28/2020. The forecast through the end of January projects colder-than-normal temperatures for more than half of the US heating load areas, sending natgas 16.1¢ (+6.3%) higher on the week. Friday’s close was $2.700 per MMBtu.

Agricultural product price movements were mixed. The spotlight remained on soybeans, which hit new contract highs again. March beans went out at $13.75¾ after rising 64¾ ¢ (+4.9%). Corn settled at $4.96¼ per bushel, up 12¼¢ (+2.5%). Wheat for March delivery, with its $6.38¾ close, decreased 1¾ ¢ (-0.3%) for the week. Of the four ICE US softs we track here, two rose and two fell. Coffee moved 4.55 lower (-3.5%) to 123.70 at the close. March sugar inched up 0.11 to 15.60¢ (+0.7%). Cocoa lost $87 (-3.3%) for the week, closing at $2,516 per ton. March cotton increased 1.65¢ (+2.1%) to its 79.77¢ settlement price. Livestock retreated, as cattle futures pared off 0.550 (-0.5%) to a 114.475 close, while hogs ended at 68.700 for February, losing 1.575 (-2.2%).

World Cup Trading Championships®

In the futures division of the 2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship, Jan Smolen finished the week in 1st with a net return of 148.2%. M. Vontobel of Tirutrade AG finished the week in 2nd with a 145% net return. 3rd place is currently held by Stefan Seibert with a net return of 124.5%. Fernando C. Piñeiro and Adrian Koemel finished the week in 4th and 5th with 89.4% and 75.3% net returns respectively.

In the 2020 World Cup Trading Championships® Futures division, Stefan Seibert finished in 1st with a 342.3% net return. Brent Carlile took 2nd with a net return of 287.9%. Yuwen Cao took 3rd with a net return of 262.9%. Michael O’Keeffe and Evgeny Kartashov rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 249% and 165.8% respectively. (Final Pending Audit)

In the 2020 World Cup Trading Championships® Forex division, Jan Smolen finished in 1st with a 113.9% net return. Scott Welsh took 2nd with a 78.7% net return, followed by Sergey Shirko taking 3rd with a net return of 61.8%. Irwan Ariston and Oliver Bjoerklund rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 51% and 19.7% respectively. (Final Pending Audit)

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Weekly Market Recap – January 15, 2021

In the Markets

Thursday’s jobless claim report was sharply higher, coming in at 965,000, 16.3% greater than the average of 830,000 expected by Wall Street analysts. The unexpected increase set the tone for a slight stock market selloff that persisted to the week’s end, despite the positive signals from president-elect Biden’s stimulus plan. CPI for December was up 0.4% vs. October’s 0.2% change. The PPI for December rose 0.3%, compared with 0.1% from a month earlier. Industrial production rose 1.6%, stronger than the prior month’s revised change of -0.5%. The retail sales report for December was -0.7%, an improvement over November’s revision of -1.4%. The global death toll from coronavirus passed the 2 million mark on Friday.

As mentioned above, equities mostly ebbed, going into the three-day Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend. The DJIA fell 0.9% (down 283.71), going out at 30,814.26 on Friday. There was a 56.43 loss for the S&P 500 (-1.5%) closing at 3,768.25. The NASDAQ Composite index followed suit, also receding by 1.5% to its 12,998.50 closing price. Exhibiting some resilience, the Russell 2000 increased 1.4%, with a 2.32 rise to 169.98 points at settlement. Volatility returned by 12.9%, as measured by the CBOE VIX, which added 2.78, ending at 24.34 for the week, it’s highest level since November 6. In currencies, the US Dollar Index strengthened with a gain of 0.72 (+0.8%) to close at 90.78, its highest closing end-of-week value since December 11 (90.98). Commodity markets pushed the S&P GSCI slightly higher; it increased 4.19 (+1.0%), finishing at 431.74, for a twelve-month high.

Metal markets were relatively uneventful. In futures, April gold eased slightly, paring $5.50 last week, to end at $1,829.90 per ounce (-0.3%). Silver gained 22.9¢ (+0.9%) to $24.866 in the March contract. Platinum ticked up $18.60 to close at $1,089.90 (+1.7%), and palladium’s $30.10 rise to $2,395.10 was 1.3% higher than the previous Friday’s close. The base metals were soft. CME copper slipped 7.15¢ (-1.9%) settling at $3.6020 per pound, and LME aluminum ended the week at $1,991.00 per ton, a decline of $30.50 (-1.5%).

On the charts, the energy complex took a breather in both directions. NYMEX crude oil prices booked a small increase, as the front month WTI ended Friday’s session at $52.36, which was up 12¢ (+0.2.%). ICE Brent retreated 89¢ (-1.6%), settling at $55.10 per barrel. The refined product prices diverged: heating oil rose and gasoline fell. ULSD added 1.38¢ to close at $1.5942 (+0.9%), while RBOB shed 1.28¢ (-0.8%), settling at $1.5277 for the week. Natural gas went out at $2.737 in the February contract, with a 3.7¢ rise (+1.4%).

In the agricultural commodity markets that we report here, the increases outweighed the decreases. Corn, with its $5.31½ close, advanced 35¼¢ (+7.1%) for the week. Wheat ended up at $6.75½ after rising 36¾¢ (+5.8%). Soybeans settled at $14.16¾ per bushel, up 41¢ (+3.0%). ICE US coffee added 4.45 to 128.15 (+3.6%). Cocoa, for the week, firmed $11 (+0.4%), closing at $2,527 per ton. Sugar kept rising, gaining 0.85 (+5.4%) to its 16.45 settlement, another new high. December cotton advanced 0.93¢ (+1.2%) to its 80.70 closing price. Livestock was the only negative mover in the Ag group, as cattle futures dropped 1.705 (-1.5%) to a 112.770 final print, while hogs eased 0.780 (-1.1%) ending the week at 67.920 for February delivery.

World Cup Trading Championships®

In the futures division of the 2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship, Jan Smolen finished the week in 1st with a net return of 161.9%. Stefan Seibert finished the week in 2nd with a 141.2% net return. 3rd place is currently held by M. Vontobel of Tirutrade AG with a net return of 81.1%. Adrian Koemel and Fernando C. Piñeiro finished the week in 4th and 5th with 80.5% and 64.1% net returns respectively.

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Weekly Market Recap – January 22, 2021

In the Markets

The four-day week was eventful, yet light on economic statistics. On Wednesday, Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris were inaugurated as President and Vice President of the United States. The pandemic continues to worsen, as measured by confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths. US deaths from COVID-19 have topped 400,000, surpassing the US military death count in World War II. The UK variant has been detected in 22 states. Initial jobless claims were 900,000 compared with 926,000 the prior week. Housing starts for December were 1.669 million vs. November’s 1.547 million (+7.9%). December’s existing home sales totaled 6.76 million, 0.75% higher than the 6.71 million sales reported for November.

Equities indices continued to nudge into new high territory. The four benchmarks we cover in our recap made new all-time highs during the week, with two of them closing at record highs. The Russell 2000 settled on Friday at the new record of 173.61, which was up 3.63 (+2.1%) for the week. NASDAQ’s Composite index staged its new record high on Friday with its 544.56 up move (+4.2%) to a 13,543.06 final mark. The others performed as follows: The DJIA rose 182.72 (+0.6%), printing 30,996.98 at week’s end. A 73.22 rise in the S&P 500 (+1.9%) took it to a 3,841.47 settlement. Volatility in equities eased again, as the CBOE VIX finished at 21.91 after sliding 2.43 (-10.0%). In the currency market, the dollar decreased, as the spot US Dollar Index ended at 90.21, having declined 0.57 (-0.6%). S&P’s commodity index (GSCI) retreated 4.34 (-1.0%), closing at 427.40 for the week.

Metal markets were flat to slightly higher, as the gold futures price added $26.30 (+1.4%), ending at $1,856.20 per troy ounce. Silver rose $0.690 (+2.8%) to its $25.556 settlement price. Platinum and palladium diverged a bit; the former advanced $21.70 (+2.0%) to its $1,111.60 close, while the latter declined to $2,365.20 (-1.2%) with a loss of $29.90 for March delivery. The base metals that we track in this report inched higher. Copper gained 2.4¢ (+0.7%) to close at $3.6260 per pound, while LME aluminum for 3-month delivery went up only $3.50 dollars per ton, ending at $1,994.50 (+0.2%).

In the energy markets, the petroleum complex had no conspicuous movement, however, the natural gas 29.1¢ selloff tipped into double-digit percentage zone by dropping 10.0%. It settled at $2.446 per MMBtu, the lowest end-of-week close for the February contract. The drop was a reaction to weather forecasts for early to mid-February, indicating higher than normal temperatures. Crude prices firmed a bit, with NYMEX WTI rising 88¢ (+1.7%) to a final $53.24, while IPE Brent’s 31¢ gain (+0.6%) firmed it to $55.51 per barrel. Refined products hardly moved, but the warmer outlook widened the spread between heating oil and gasoline. February ULSD lost 1.60¢ (-1.0%) to close at $1.5782 per gallon, while RBOB gasoline squeaked higher by 1.73¢, settling at $1.5450 (+1.1%).

Of the nine agricultural markets that we review, price direction was mixed with five down and four up. The most active ag products, the workhorses of the CBOT, all took a hit. On the charts, soybeans, corn, and wheat all appeared to fall out of their uptrends. In percentage terms, soybeans fared the worst. The March contract plunged 7.4% with a $1.05 crash to $13.11¾ per bushel. Corn gave back 31¢ (-5.8%) to its $5.50½ settlement, and wheat prices fell to $6.34½, suffering a 41¢ drop (-6.1%). Coffee pulled back 4.10 points (-3.2%), with the March ICE futures ending the week at $1.2405 per pound. Sugar lost 0.58 (-3.5%), settling at 15.87¢/lb. The rest of this sector’s markets were gainers. Cocoa moved up, but only by two ticks (+0.08%) to $2.529 $2,506 per metric ton. Once more, cotton made a new high for the year, adding 0.86 points (+1.1%), as the March contract closed at 81.56¢ per pound. In the livestock markets, hogs rose 2.005 (+3.0%) to 69.925, while cattle futures rallied 3.955 (+3.5%) closing at 116.725 at week’s end, the highest Friday close in eleven months (120.00 on February 21, 2020).

World Cup Trading Championships®

In the futures division of the 2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship, Jan Smolen finished the week in 1st with a net return of 198%. Stefan Seibert finished the week in 2nd with a 156.1% net return. 3rd place is currently held by M. Vontobel of Tirutrade AG with a net return of 79.8%. Adrian Koemel and Fernando C. Piñeiro finished the week in 4th and 5th with 77.3% and 65.3% net returns respectively.

The post Weekly Market Recap – January 22, 2021 appeared first on World Cup Trading Championships.

Weekly Market Recap – January 29, 2021

In the Markets

Initial jobless claims declined to 875,000; the report for the previous week was 914,000 first-time applications. Economic statistics, compared to their prior levels, were as follows: the consumer confidence index was 89.3 vs. 87.1, durable goods orders were 0.2% vs. 1.2%, core capital goods were 0.6% vs. 1.0%, personal income for December was 0.6% (November was down 1.3%) and consumer spending fell 0.2% vs. -0.7%. The monthly report of the index of leading economic indicators advanced 0.3%, the lowest change in six months. Gross domestic product growth for Q4 plunged to +4.0 after Q3’s record +33.1% (Q2’s GDP had been a 31.4% decline.)

As the U.S. vaccination programs are proceeding at slower rates than expected, another mutation has arrived onshore. This mutation referred to as the South Africa variant has been detected in South Carolina and Maryland. Disease experts consider the South African strain to be more infectious than the others.

Throughout the week, the stock market news was dominated by systemic factors unrelated to the pandemic, the economy, interest rates, the USD or politics. Hedge fund trading activity in large short option positions in companies with distressed stock prices was countered by thousands of small investors who used social media to coordinate their buying of these stocks. The resulting “squeeze” led to unusual gyrations in volatility. CBOE’s VIX (aka “the fear index”) leaped 11.18 points, from 21.91 the previous week to 33.09 on Friday. This was a 51.0% spike. During the first, and worst, phase of the pandemic-based market crash, the VIX had a weekly 134.8% rise of 23.03 points (from 17.08 to 40.11). That occurred at the end of February 2020, when the markets began to tank from the growing investor panic attributed to COVID-19.

This past week’s movement of the benchmarks we track here was decidedly bearish. Across the board, stocks registered losses. The DJIA plunged 1,014.36 (-3.3%), printing 29,982.62 as its Friday close; there was a 127.23 decrease for the S&P 500 (-3.3%) closing at 3,714.24. NASDAQ’s composite index had a 472.37 down move to 13,070.69 (-3.5%). The Russell 2000 fell with a 7.61 drop to 166.00 (-4.4%). In currency markets, the dollar improved slightly, evidenced by the spot US Dollar Index, which ended up 0.32 (+0.4%), to its 90.53 close. S&P’s GSCI, moved to 430.99, increasing by 3.59 (+0.8%) at week’s end.

Except for silver, the metals sector declined in price. March silver gained $1.358 (+5.3%), ending at $26.914 per troy ounce. Gold eased $8.90 (-0.5%) to its $1,847.30 settlement price. In percentage terms, platinum and palladium gave back more than gold. The former fell $32.40 (-2.9%) to its $1,079.20 close, while the latter dropped to $2,208.40 (-6.6%) with a loss of $156.80 for March delivery. The base metals that we cover in our recap weakened, as well. Copper retreated 7.0¢ (-1.9%) to close at $3.5560 per pound. LME aluminum for 3-month delivery slipped $17.00 dollars per ton, ending at $1,977.50 (-0.9%).

Energy futures were mostly higher, excluding NYMEX WTI crude oil, down only 7¢ (-0.1%), ending at $52.20 per barrel. Front-month ICE Brent crude added 0.8% (+ 47¢) to its $55.88 settlement. Refined products also rose: March heating oil firmed 2.02¢ to close at $1.5984 (+1.3%), while RBOB gasoline inched up 0.77¢ settling at $1.5527 (+0.8%). Weather forecasts featuring the polar vortex gave natural gas in the U.S. some added demand support, boosting the futures by 10.8¢ (+4.4%) to $2.564 per MMBtu.

Of the nine agricultural products we focus on here, four advanced, four retreated, and one was unchanged. Wheat settled at $6.63 per bushel, up 28½¢ (+4.5%). Corn, with its $5.47 close, gained 46½ ¢ (+9.3%) for the week. Soybeans went out at $13.70, after rising 58¼¢ (+4.4%). Livestock was mixed: hogs ended at 76.650 for April, adding 0.500 (+0.7%), while cattle sagged 0.675 during the week (-0.6%) to a 121.850 close. The ICE US softs were mostly weaker, as coffee decreased 1.20 (-1.0%) to 125.00 from the previous Friday, cocoa slipped $12 (-0.5%) for the week, closing at $2,474 per ton, and March cotton gave back 0.92¢ (-1.1%) to its final price of 80.64¢ per pound. Holding its ground, sugar was unchanged for the week, settling at 15.08¢

World Cup Trading Championships®

In the 2021 World Cup Trading Championships® Futures division, Weichou Chen finished in 1st with a 68.6% net return. Princely Mathew took 2nd with a net return of 44.4%. Daniel Grymyr took 3rd with a net return of 33.1%. Stefan Seibert and Donald Weijland rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 31.4% and 20.2% respectively.

In the 2021 World Cup Trading Championships® Forex division, Michael Frank finished in 1st with a 45.7% net return. Raul Glavan took 2nd with a 22.7% net return, followed by Michele Di Gregorio taking 3rd with a net return of 15.2%. Michel Campanale and Patrick Nill rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 13.3% and 13% respectively.

In the futures division of the 2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship, Stefan Seibert finished the week in 1st with a net return of 178.7%. Jan Smolen finished the week in 2nd with a 135.9% net return. 3rd place is currently held by M. Vontobel of Tirutrade AG with a net return of 79.7%. Adrian Koemel and Patrick Nill finished the week in 4th and 5th with 71.2% and 62.3% net returns respectively.

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Weekly Market Recap – February 5, 2021

In the Markets

The U.S. Senate passed the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 bill, as the nationwide toll from the disease reached 460,582 deaths, with 2,820 new deaths cited on Friday.

Initial jobless claims were reported at 779,000 vs. 812,000 in the previous week’s release; Wall Street analysts had expected an average of 830,000. January’s non-farm payroll figure came in at an increase of 49,000 vs. December’s 227,000 decrease. As a monthly percentage, the unemployment rate in January was 6.3%, an improvement from December’s 6.7%. With the Commerce Department’s report on the balance of trade for December, the monthly addition to the deficit made 2020’s change a 17.7% rise for the year. The $679 billion deficit is the highest since 2008. December factory orders rose 1.1% vs. +1.0% for November.

Of the stock market indices that we track here, the largest weekly percentage move was +7.9% for the Russell 2000, ending at 179.07, a record high. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite also closed at record levels, with the former at 3,886.83 (+4.6%) and the latter settling at 13,856.30 (+6.0%). The DJI increased the least (+3.9%), going out at 31,148.24 on Friday. Volatility crashed 36.9% after the option premiums dwindled in the components of the CBOE VIX that settled at 20.87, the lowest close since early December. The U.S. Dollar Index continues to strengthen (+0.5%), hitting 91.00, its highest Friday close in ten weeks (91.78 on Nov. 27, 2020). Commodities are advancing, as evidenced by the S&P GSCI, with the index’s basket of futures closing the week at 450.61, which is up 4.6% for the week, registering its highest end-of-week level since April 2019.

The metals futures in our coverage were mostly higher for the week, settling as follows: silver ended at $27.019 (up 0.4%), platinum at $1,133.00 (up 5.0%), palladium at $2,326.30 (up 5.3%), copper at $3.6260 (up 2.0%) and aluminum at $1,995.00 (up 0.9%). Only gold lost ground, with the February contract easing 1.9%, to close the week at $1,813.00 per ounce.

The energy futures sector is in rally mode. Crude oil benchmarks jumped, as WTI soared to $56.85 (up 8.9%) and Brent shot up to $59.34 with its 7.8% surge, both hitting pre-pandemic levels. Refined products rose to their highest prices in eleven months: Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel gained 7.2%, closing the week at $1.7137 and RBOB gasoline climbed 6.2% to $1.6493 per gallon. The percentage leader in the sector was natural gas, skyrocketing 11.7% to $2.863 per MMBtu for its end-of-week price.

Gainers outnumbered losers in the agricultural futures featured here. Of the nine on our list, three were in the minus column: soybeans, wheat and cocoa. The beans closed at $13.66¾ (down 0.2%), wheat slid 3.3%, ending the week at $6.41¼ per bushel, while cocoa’s decline was marginal, slipping only 0.2%, easing to $2,472 per metric ton. The others in the group closed as follows: corn at $5.48½ (+0.3%), coffee at 126.65 (+1.3%), sugar at 15.70¢ (+4.1%), cotton at 82.74¢ (+2.6), cattle at 123.775 (+1.6) and hogs at 80.300 (+4.8%).

World Cup Trading Championships®

In the 2021 World Cup Trading Championships® Futures division, Adrian Koemel finished in 1st with a 52.3% net return. Alex Barrow took 2nd with a net return of 51.7%. Stefan Seibert took 3rd with a net return of 31.6%. Daniel Grymyr and Liberato Adamo rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 27.2% and 22.8% respectively.

In the 2021 World Cup Trading Championships® Forex division, Raul Glavan finished in 1st with a 46.2% net return. Robert Miner took 2nd with a 43.2% net return, followed by Sergey Shirko taking 3rd with a net return of 36.6%. Erik Gandino and Lorenzo Misino rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 31.3% and 22.3% respectively.

In the futures division of the 2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship, Stefan Seibert finished the week in 1st with a net return of 174.4%. Jan Smolen finished the week in 2nd with a 154% net return. 3rd place is currently held by M. Vontobel of Tirutrade AG with a net return of 79.7%. Adrian Koemel and Andrei Balanescu finished the week in 4th and 5th with 73% and 52.6% net returns respectively.

The post Weekly Market Recap – February 5, 2021 appeared first on World Cup Trading Championships.

Weekly Market Recap – February 12, 2021

In the Markets

Thursday’s jobless claims report came in at 793,000, compared with the previous week’s revised figure of 812,000; the average expectation by Wall Street analysts was 760,000. The Consumer Price Index for January was up 0.3% vs. 0.2% for December. Wholesale inventories for December rose 0.3%; the November number had been 0.0%. Business formations rose 43% in January, in contrast to December’s 12% decline. 150 million people in the U.S. are preparing for an onslaught of winter storm activity that is expected to bring the coldest temperatures in a decade to some regions. A new study suggests that the UK variant of COVID-19 may be up to 70% deadlier than other variants.

Once again, the stock market indices rose to new record highs. The largest percentage movement was in the Russell 2000, as it was the previous week. It ended at 183.55 (+2.5%). The NASDAQ Composite went out at 14,095.47 (+1.7%), and the S&P 500 added 1.2%, ending at 3,943.83 on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 31,458.40 after its 1.0% rise. CBOE’s VIX settled at 19.97 (-4.3%), its first dip below 20.00 in fifty-one weeks. It closed at 17.08 on 2/21/2020. The U.S. Dollar Index eased a bit (-0.6%) with 90.44 its final Friday valuation. Most commodity prices remained strong, as per the S&P GSCI, adding 3.0% to end the week at 463.95, its highest level since October 2018.

As for the metals, the futures we follow in this recap were all gainers: gold ended at $1,823.20 (+0.6%), silver settled at $27.328 (+1.1%), platinum shot up 11.1%, hitting $1,259.00 per ounce, after reaching a six-year high a few days earlier. Palladium rose 2.4% to close at $2,382.60, its highest level in two months. Base metal price increases were 4.5% for copper ($3.7880 per pound) and 4.7% for aluminum ($2,089.50 per metric ton.)

Lower oil production news propelled the crude benchmarks to advance sharply. WTI futures at NYMEX rallied to $59.47 (+4.6%) and ICE Brent leaped to $62.43 (+5.2%). NYMEX refined products followed, with heating oil rising 3.4%, closing the week at $1.7714, and RBOB gasoline adding 2.6% to $1.6925 per gallon. Natural gas saw only a slight increase (0.5%), closing out the week at $2.876 per mmBtu.

In the agricultural futures, our usual nine products were mixed in their directional movement: five of them firmed, while four declined. Soybeans closed at $13.72 (+0.4%). Corn and wheat slipped: with the former losing 1.8% ($5.38¾), and the latter decreasing 0.7% ($6.36¾ per bushel). The other Ags on the minus side were sugar and cocoa. May sugar futures went out at 15.64¢ (-0.4%) and May cocoa settled at $2,433/ton (-1.6%). The other gainers closed the week as follows: cotton at 87.27¢ (+5.5%), cattle at 125.175 (+1.1%) and hogs at 85.200 (+6.1%).

World Cup Trading Championships®

In the 2021 World Cup Trading Championships® Futures division, Adrian Koemel finished the week in 1st with a 52.3% net return. Jurg Diemand took 2nd with a net return of 39.5%. Andre Betz finished 3rd with a net return of 34.7%. Marek Chrastina and Chun Chi Timothy Ma rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 33% and 32.7% respectively.

In the 2021 World Cup Trading Championships® Forex division, Robert Miner finished the week in 1st with a 58% net return. Sergey Shirko took 2nd with a 39.9% net return, followed by Erik Gandino taking 3rd with a net return of 35.4%. Michele Di Gregorio and Lorenzo Misino rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 30.3% and 23% respectively.

In the futures division of the 2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship, Stefan Seibert finished the week in 1st with a net return of 177.6%. Jan Smolen finished the week in 2nd with a 169.4% net return. 3rd place is currently held by M. Vontobel of Tirutrade AG with a net return of 79.7%. Adrian Koemel and Andrei Balanescu finished the week in 4th and 5th with 73% and 69.1% net returns respectively.

The post Weekly Market Recap – February 12, 2021 appeared first on World Cup Trading Championships.

Weekly Market Recap – February 19, 2021

In the Markets

The 821,000 initial jobless claims total was the highest in a month; there are a total of 18.3 million unemployed U.S. workers. Retail sales reported for January increased 5.3%, compared with December’s 1.4%. Industrial production rose 0.9%, a bit weaker than the prior month’s +1.3%. The PPI for January rose 1.3%, vs. 0.4% for December. There were 1.58 million housing starts in January vs. the previous 1.67 million (-5.4%). The COVID-19 news reported that the half-million U.S. death toll is approaching, as positivity rates, hospitalizations, and daily deaths are falling. Vaccination distribution is starting to improve. By the week’s end, although electric power was returning to millions in Texas, there were 13 million Texans under a boil-water advisory.

Stock market indices that we cover were mostly weaker except for the DJIA, which managed only a 0.1% rise, ending at 31,494.32 for the week. For the Russell 2000, ending at 181.64, the move was down by 0.1%, the S&P 500 closed at 3,906.71 (-0.7%) and the NASDAQ Composite dipped to 13,874,46 (-1.6%). Volatility flowed back into stock options as the 10.4% gain in the CBOE VIX settled the index at 22.05. The U.S. Dollar Index hardly budged (-0.1%), with its 90.34 final value at Friday’s close. Commodities continue to advance, as evidenced by the S&P GSCI, which gained 1.3% with its 470.08 close, the highest end-of-week close since early October in 2018.

The metals futures we focus on in our recap were mixed, closing as follows: gold ended at $1,777.40 (-2.5%), silver at $27.254 (-0.3%), platinum at $1,293.10 (+2.7%), palladium at $2,369.20 (-0.6%), copper at $4.0740 (+7.6%) and aluminum at $2,131.50 (+2.0%).

In the energy futures sector, there is still in an uptrend on the charts, however, some Friday news pertaining to an increase in Saudi production seemed to cause a slight pullback in NYMEX WTI (-0.4%) to $59.24 per barrel. Brent also slipped a bit on Friday, yet kept its weekly gain (+0.8%) with its $62.91 settlement. U.S. refined products maintained strength: heating oil added 2.9%, closing the week at $1.8229 and RBOB gasoline climbed 6.8% to $1.8069 per gallon. Natural had a volatile week as the arctic temperatures in Texas and Oklahoma froze wells; even the gas flow in pipelines was impeded by the sub zero conditions. NYMEX Henry Hub natgas was up 6.7%, ending at $3.069 per mmBtu.

With respect to the agriculture markets, we saw another week with more advances than retreats. Seven of the nine products we feature here had price increases. The two livestock futures we track were in the minus column: with cattle easing 1.2% to 123.675 and hogs slipping 0.8% to 84.500 at the close. The settlement prices for the gainers were: soybeans at $13.77¼ (+0.4%), corn at $5.42¾ (0.7%), wheat at $6.50¾ (+2.2%), coffee at 129.15 (+5.0%), sugar at 16.89¢ (+8.0%), cocoa at $2,443 (+0.4%) and cotton at 90.48¢ per pound (+2.1%).

World Cup Trading Championships®

In the 2021 World Cup Trading Championships® Futures division, Jurg Diemand finished the week in 1st with a 57.1% net return. Adrian Koemel finished 2nd with a net return of 50.8%. Weichou Chen finished 3rd with a net return of 44.9%. Stefan Seibert and Liberato Adamo rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 33.5% and 32.8% respectively.

In the 2021 World Cup Trading Championships® Forex division, Raul Glavan finished the week in 1st with a 97.2% net return. Robert Miner took 2nd with a 94.6% net return, followed by Sergey Shirko taking 3rd with a net return of 39.9%. Erik Gandino and Michele Di Gregorio rounded out the top 5 with net returns of 35.8% and 34.4% respectively.

In the futures division of the 2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship, Stefan Seibert finished the week in 1st with a net return of 178.9%. Jan Smolen finished the week in 2nd with a 165.9% net return. 3rd place is currently held by M. Vontobel of Tirutrade AG with a net return of 80.1%. Adrian Koemel and Patrick Nill finished the week in 4th and 5th with 73% and 58% net returns respectively.

The post Weekly Market Recap – February 19, 2021 appeared first on World Cup Trading Championships.

Weekly Market Recap – February 26, 2021

In the Markets

President Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package was passed in the House. A panel of experts advising the Food and Drug Administration endorsed Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine. Initial jobless claims declined to 730,000 vs. the previous week’s 841,000 applications. Other economic statistics, compared to their prior levels, were as follows: the consumer confidence index was 91.3 vs. 88.9, durable goods orders for January were 3.4% vs. December’s 1.2%, January core capital goods orders were 0.5% (unchanged from December’s figure). Personal income for January grew by 10%, a huge improvement over the 0.6% uptick reported for December. Consumer spending rose 2.4% vs. the prior month’s decline of 0.4%. The monthly index of leading economic indicators advanced 0.5% compared with 0.4% the prior month.

On Thursday, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield briefly topped 1.6%, trading at its highest level in more than a year, raising concerns for investors. All four stock market indices we track here declined for the week. The greatest percentage drop was the NASDAQ Composite’s 4.9% down-move to 13,192.34. The Russell 2000 had a weekly decrease of 3.1%, ending its Friday session at 176.06. The S&P 500 closed at 3,811.15 (-2.4%), and the DJI fell the least (-1.8%), ending at 30,932,337. CBOE’s VIX soared 26.8% as option premiums swelled, taking the volatility index to 27.95 at the close. In currency markets, higher interest rates boosted the U.S. Dollar Index up +0.6%, hitting 90.92 at the week’s end. Commodities, in general, are still advancing, as evidenced by the S&P GSCI. This diversified portfolio of futures closed at 476.98 (+1.5%), its highest end-of-week level in nearly two and a half years.

All the precious metals futures we cover in our recap weakened, settling as follows: gold at $1,728.80 (-2.7%), silver at $26.402 (-3.1%) and palladium at $2,310.10 (-2.5%). Platinum had the steepest decline in the precious sector, hitting $1,185.30 (-8.3%). The industrial metals managed to stay in positive territory, with copper at $4.0945 (+0.5%) and three-month aluminum at $2,152.00 (+1.0%).

In energy markets, crude oil kept rising, as NYMEX WTI reached $61.50 (+3.8%) and ICE Brent climbed to $64.42, gaining 3.7%. Refined products also increased. RBOB gasoline firmed to $1.8770 (+3.9%) and heating oil, the weakest in the petroleum group, added only 1.8%, as demand expectations in the northeast subsided, due to warmer weather forecasts. This led the March contract to drop to 1.8565 per gallon. A higher temperature outlook on the horizon also affected natural gas, which lost 9% from contract highs two weeks ago. Futures took a 7.4% dive from the prior Friday, ending the week at $2.771 per MMBtu.

Among the nine agricultural products featured here, gainers outnumbered losers (6 to 3). Soybeans closed at $14.05¼ (+2.0%), wheat edged up 0.7%, ending the week at $6.55, while corn settled at $5.55½ (+2.3%). Coffee’s strength was due to crop issues in Brazil; the May contract shot up to 137.50 (+6.5%). Cocoa prices moved up sharply by 6.5%, to 2½-month highs, ending at $2,604 per metric ton, possibly linked to reports of increasing demand for chocolate. Sugar’s path was downward for the week, with May futures settling at 16.45¢ per pound (-2.6%). Cotton prices also saw some slippage (-1.8%), as May’s final price for the week was 88.83¢ per pound. Livestock futures prices converged. Cattle declined to an even 120.00 (-3.0%), while hogs increased to its 87.150 close (+3.1%).

Current Standings

2021 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Weichou Chen	64.7%	Japan
2	Kevin McCormick	52.3%	United States
3	Jurg Diemand	46.1%	Switzerland
4	Liberato Adamo	41.3%	Italy
5	Graeme Adams	35.7%	New Zealand

January 1, 2021 – March 1, 2021

2021 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Raul Glavan	122%	Germany
2	Robert Miner	114.1%	United States
3	Patrick Nill	63.3%	Germany
4	Lorenzo Misino	52%	Italy
5	Michael Frank	42.7%	Germany

January 1, 2021 – March 1, 2021

2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION	DIVISION
1	Stefan Seibert	181.3%	Germany	Futures
2	Jan Smolen	143.5%	Slovakia	Futures
3	Patrick Nill	89.3%	Germany	Futures
4	M. Vontobel, Tirutrade AG	76.4%	Switzerland	Futures
5	Marek Chrastina	73.5%	Slovakia	Futures

June 1, 2020 – March 1, 2021

The post Weekly Market Recap – February 26, 2021 appeared first on World Cup Trading Championships.

Weekly Market Recap – March 5, 2021

In the Markets

Thursday’s initial jobless claims report was 745,000, compared with 736,000 the previous week. February’s non-farm payroll figure showed an increase of 379,000 jobs that came back vs. January’s 166,000 rise. In the Commerce Department’s report on the balance of trade for January, the deficit grew by $68.2 billion, compared with December’s $67.0 billion trade outflow. January factory orders rose 2.6% vs. +1.6% for December.

Worldwide, as of March 1st, more than 224 million people have been injected with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. On Tuesday, President Biden said that the United States was on track to have enough supply of coronavirus vaccines “for every adult in America by the end of May.” Under the Defense Production Act of 1950, the White House struck a deal with Merck & Co. to help manufacture Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine. The governors of Texas, Mississippi, Iowa, Montana, and North Dakota have announced ending statewide mask mandates.

Stock market indices that we cover were mixed; the DJIA rose 1.8%, closing at 31,496.30 for the week, while the S&P 500 ended at 3,841.94 (+0.8%). The other two benchmarks on our radar, the NASDAQ Composite and the Russell 2000, both weakened; the former lost 2.1%, finishing the week at 12,929.15, and the latter settled at 175.84 (-0.1%). Volatility subsided in stock options, as the 11.8% drop in the CBOE VIX took the index to a 24.66 close. The U.S. Dollar Index rallied 1.2% to 91.98, its highest level since late November 2020. Commodity prices advanced again, as per the S&P GSCI, which gained 3.0% with its 491.43 close, the highest Friday valuation in forty months.

The seven metal futures we monitor were mostly weaker (five decreased, two increased), closing as follows: gold at $1,698.50 (-1.8%), silver at $25.287 (-4.4%), platinum at $1,128.30 (-4.8%), palladium at $2,329.10 (+0.7%), copper at $4.0755 (-0.4%) and aluminum at $2,176.00 (+1.1%).

In energy futures, Thursday marked a sharp rise in the petroleum sector, as OPEC news indicated that production by its members would stay unchanged for April, contrary to market expectations. This sparked a rally that sent the weekly change up 7.5% in NYMEX WTI, to $66.09 per barrel, and likewise, for ICE Brent, the weekly gain was +7.7%, with its $69.36 settlement. U.S. refined products followed suit: heating oil climbed 5.5%, closing the week at $1.9440, while RBOB gasoline jumped 5.9% to $2.0647 per gallon. Natural gas had an active week, as well, but in the opposite direction: NYMEX Henry Hub nat gas slid 2.5%, ending on Friday at $2.701 per mmBtu, its lowest close in five weeks.

Price moves in the agriculture markets resulted in a week with more decreases than increases. Only two of the nine products that we feature here traded to the plus side. Soybeans ended at $14.30 per bushel (+1.8%) Lean hogs, traded only fractionally higher (+0.03%), closing at 87.175 at the week’s end. The losers were led by coffee, with it’s 6.3% decline to 128.85, which was attributed to Monday’s report from the International Coffee Organization that global inventory was larger than industry analysts had expected. The settlement prices for the other Ags that declined were: corn at $5.45½ (-0.4%), wheat at $6.53 (-1.1%), sugar at 16.40¢ (-0.3%), cocoa at $2,546 (-2.2%), cotton at 87.76¢ per pound (-1.2%) and live cattle at 119.025 (-0.8%).

Current Standings

2021 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Kevin McCormick	89.3%	United States
2	Weichou Chen	77.8%	Japan
3	Adrian Koemel	73.3%	Germany
4	John Beal	51.7%	Australia
5	Fabio Oreste	50.6%	Italy

January 1, 2021 – March 5, 2021

2021 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Raul Glavan	269.4%	Germany
2	Carlo Termini	188.7%	Italy
3	Robert Miner	92.9%	United States
4	Adrian Koemel	48.2%	Germany
5	Erik Gandino	45.3%	Italy

January 1, 2021 – March 5, 2021

2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION	DIVISION
1	Stefan Seibert	186.1%	Germany	Futures
2	Jan Smolen	134.6%	Slovakia	Futures
3	Patrick Nill	83%	Germany	Futures
4	M. Vontobel, Tirutrade AG	76.8%	Switzerland	Futures
5	Adrian Koemel	76.6%	Germany	Futures

June 1, 2020 – March 5, 2021

The post Weekly Market Recap – March 5, 2021 appeared first on World Cup Trading Championships.

Weekly Market Recap – March 12, 2021

In the Markets

Thursday’s initial jobless claims report came in at 712,000, compared with the previous week’s figure of 754,000. The Consumer Price Index for February was up 0.4% vs. 0.3% for January. Producer prices were up 0.5% vs. the prior month’s 1.3% increase. Wholesale inventories for January rose 1.3%; the December number was 0.3%. Household net worth for the fourth quarter of 2020 grew 10%, in comparison with the 7.5% gain in Q3. The federal budget for February showed a $311 billion deficit vs. January’s $235 billion deficit. President Biden signed the COVID-19 Relief Bill into law. The Internal Revenue Service announced that people would start receiving the stimulus payments, via direct deposit, over the weekend. As of Friday, 64 million Americans had been vaccinated with at least one dose.

Treasury yields continued climbing; front-month CBT T-Note and T-Bond futures fell to levels not seen since January 2020, inducing some equities investors to ramp up their buying programs. The stock market benchmarks we track in our recap had strong performances, with three of the four hitting new record highs on Monday. The largest weekly percentage movement was in the Russell 2000 (+6.3%), which ended at 186.96 on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 32,778.64 with a 4.1% rise. The S&P 500 added 2.6%, trading 3,943.34 at the close. The NASDAQ Composite, which made its all-time high a month ago, went out at 13,319.86 (+3.1% for the week). CBOE’s VIX settled at 20.63 (-16.3%), its lowest end-of-week close in five weeks. The U.S. Dollar Index eased a bit (-0.3%) to 91.66 as its final Friday valuation. Commodity prices were stable, moving sideways or only slightly higher on the charts. This was evidenced by the S&P GSCI, which added only 0.2%, ending the week at 492.21, its smallest increase in over three months.

Regarding metals markets, the futures we follow were mostly gainers: gold ended at $1,719.80 (+1.3%), silver settled at $25.911 (+2.5%), platinum jumped 6.4% to $1,200.30 per ounce, palladium rose 1.4% to close at $2,360.70 and copper increased 1.6% to $4.1400 per pound. Only one of the metal futures we feature moved lower, the three-month LME aluminum slipped 0.2% to $2,171.00 per metric ton.

Energy markets were mixed with the crude oil contracts receding slightly: NYMEX WTI ended at $65.61 per barrel (-0.7%) and ICE Brent eased 0.2% to its $69.22 settlement. Refined products traded higher for the week: April heating oil firmed 1.2% to close at $1.96.75 per gallon, while RBOB gasoline advanced to $2.1500 (+4.1%). Non-commercial selling continued to batter the natural gas market, It took a 3.7% drubbing down to $2.600 per MMBtu, the lowest Friday close in six weeks.

In agricultural futures, more products decreased than increased. Soybeans closed at $14.13¼ (-1.2%), corn also lost 1.2%, slipping to $5.39, and wheat fell 2.2%, ending the week at $6.38 ½ per bushel. In the softs, coffee performed best, rallying 3.2% to its end-of-week close of $1.33 per pound. Cocoa improved a bit (+0.9%), rising to $2,570/ton. Sugar and cotton both lost ground, settling as follows: sugar at 16.13¢ (-1.6%) and cotton at 87.56¢ (-0.2%). In livestock, although fractionally down, the April cattle price was statistically unchanged (0.0%), ending at 119.000 (vs. the previous week’s 119.025). The hogs, on the other hand, were the strongest among the food markets we follow. On Thursday, following the news that China’s soymeal futures had just tumbled due to a new outbreak of swine fever in South Africa, the CME lean hog contract for April delivery shot up 2¢, and stayed at that level through to Friday’s close of 91.400 (up 4.8% for the week).

Current Standings

2021 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Fabio Oreste	96.3%	Italy
2	Kevin McCormick	92.4%	United States
3	John Beal	69%	Australia
4	Liberato Adamo	59.1%	Italy
5	Adrian Koemel	55.1%	Germany

January 1, 2021 – March 12, 2021

2021 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Carlo Termini	469.9%	Italy
2	Raul Glavan	149.5%	Germany
3	Robert Miner	132.5%	United States
4	Erick Gandino	51.7%	Italy
5	Adrian Koemel	48.3%	Germany

January 1, 2021 – March 12, 2021

2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION	DIVISION
1	Stefan Seibert	216.4%	Germany	Futures
2	Jan Smolen	145.8%	Slovakia	Futures
3	Marek Chrastina	84.7%	Slovakia	Futures
4	Patrick Nill	83.9%	Germany	Futures
5	Adrian Koemel	76.6%	Germany	Futures

June 1, 2020 – March 12, 2021

The post Weekly Market Recap – March 12, 2021 appeared first on World Cup Trading Championships.

Weekly Market Recap – March 19, 2021

In the Markets

The initial jobless claims report, at 770,000, was the highest weekly number in five weeks; the count for the previous week was 725,000. February retail sales decreased 3.0%, compared with January’s 7.6% increase. Industrial production rose 1.3%, slightly weaker than the prior month’s +1.4%. Business inventories rose 0.3%, down from 0.8%. Capacity utilization increased to 73.8% over the previous month’s 75.5%. There were 1.52 million housing starts in February vs. January’s 1.58 million. Several European countries have mandated new lockdown restrictions as concerns mount over another surge in COVID-19 cases. The E.U. resumed the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine. On Friday, the U.S. reached President Biden’s initial goal of 100 million coronavirus vaccine doses.

June T-Note and T-Bond futures made new 14 month lows, as the U.S. Treasury yields continued rising. The ten-year note contract fell 18/32 to 131-07, and the thirty-year bond declined 7/32 to 154-03. The stock market indices we cover here all eased from the previous week’s levels. The greatest percentage drop was the Russell 2000’s 2.0% down-move to 183.14. Both the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite slipped 0.8%: ending at 3,913.10 and 13,215.24, respectively. Closing at 32,627.97 on Friday, the DJIA lost only 0.5% for the week, but it did achieve an all-time high the day before, briefly surpassing the 33,000 mark. CBOE’s VIX soared edged upwards to 20.95 (+1.6%). In currency markets, the U.S. Dollar Index edged up +0.3%, trading at 91.92 at the close. The S&P GSCI slid, as the general commodity trend for the week was flat-to-down; the basket of futures closed down 3.4% at 475.23, its lowest end-of-week valuation in a month.

In the physical commodity sectors, metals fared best, mostly due to palladium’s 11.4% rise to $2,2630.90 in the June futures. The rally was driven by a report from Russia, the world’s number one producer of the metal, that there was a greater than expected supply deficit.
Aluminum closed up 4.4% for the week, ending at $2,265.50 per ton, the highest since June 2018. The rise was attributed to inventory shortages. The other metals futures we focus on in our recap closed as follows: gold at $1,741.70 (+1.3%), silver at $26.321 (+1.6%), platinum at $1,200.10 (0.0%), and copper at $4.1130 (-0.7%).

On the energy futures charts, the uptrend is breaking. Thursday’s sell-off in the crude contracts, and the continued weakness on Friday, came as traders anticipated the Sunday financial report from Saudi Aramco. For the week, NYMEX WTI tumbled to $61.42 per barrel, down 6.4%. Brent fell to $64.53 (-6.8%). Percentage-wise, U.S. refined products plummeted even more: heating oil dove 7.4%, closing the week at $1.8223, and RBOB gasoline crashed 9.6% to $1.9431 per gallon. Natural gas, reacting to a bearish storage report on Thursday, moved down 2.5% for the week, ending at $2.535 per mmBtu.

Turning to the agricultural markets, we saw a week with more declines than increases. Six of the nine products we feature here moved to the downside. The settlement prices were as follows: soybeans rising 0.2% to $14.16¼, corn gaining 3.5% to $5.57¾, wheat sliding 1.8% to $6.27 at the close, coffee dropping 3.0% to 129.000, sugar falling 2.3% to 15.76¢, cocoa retreating 3.0% to $2,493 per ton, cotton dipping 3.3% to 84.68¢/lb., cattle slipping only 0.5% to 118,400, and lean hog futures rising to 94.250, up 3.1% for the week. Pork prices are seeing 6½-year highs, partly due to U.S. winter-related production problems, but also to continued fears in China about swine fever affecting South Africa’s China-bound exports.

Current Standings

2021 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Fabio Oreste	107.9%	Italy
2	Kevin McCormick	91.6%	United States
3	Adrian Koemel	70.4%	Germany
4	Liberato Adamo	65.7%	Italy
5	John Beal	61.4%	Australia

January 1, 2021 – March 19, 2021

2021 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Carlo Termini	744.4%	Italy
2	Robert Miner	148.8%	United States
3	Patrick Nill	116.9%	Germany
4	Raul Glavan	98.7%	Germany
5	Sergey Shirko	51.9%	Latvia

January 1, 2021 – March 19, 2021

2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION	DIVISION
1	Stefan Seibert	210.9%	Germany	Futures
2	Jan Smolen	150.2%	Slovakia	Futures
3	Patrick Nill	105.6%	Germany	Futures
4	Marek Chrastina	103.9%	Slovakia	Futures
5	Adrian Koemel	81.8%	Germany	Futures

June 1, 2020 – March 19, 2021

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Weekly Market Recap – March 26, 2021

In the Markets

Initial jobless claims fell sharply to 684,000 vs. the previous week’s 781,000. Other economic statistics, compared to their prior levels, were as follows: the consumer sentiment index was 89.1 vs. 83.0, durable goods orders for February were down 1.1% vs. January’s 3.5% rise, February core capital goods orders were 0.8% lower than the previous month’s increase of 0.6%. Personal income for February dropped 7.1%, a setback compared with January’s 10.1% improvement. Consumer spending eased 1.0% vs. the prior month’s increase of 3.4%. February core inflation gained 0.1%; in January it had risen 0.2%. On a longer-term basis, gross domestic product for 2021’s first quarter climbed 4.3%, a higher increase than the 4.1% rise in Q4.

U.S. coronavirus cases have been increasing in twenty-six states, and deaths from the disease are rising in nine states. In the Suez Canal, a grounded 224,000-ton cargo ship, that carries 20,000 containers, has blocked marine commerce. This is disrupting the global transportation of goods ranging from cars and computers to cattle and crude oil. It is disruptive, as well, to military and humanitarian objectives. The loss per day is estimated at $7-9 billion.

Stock market indices that we track in this recap were mixed; the DJIA rose 1.4%, closing at 33,072.88 for the week, and the S&P 500 ended at 3,974.54 (+1.6%). Moving lower were the NASDAQ Composite and the Russell 2000; the former lost 0.6%, settling at 13,138.72, and the latter finished the week at 177.87 (-2.9%). The CBOE VIX displayed reduced volatility in stock options, as the index fell 10.0%, to an 18.86 close. On the currency front, the U.S. Dollar Index rose 0.9% to 92.72, its highest end-of-week valuation since November 13, 2020. As for the commodity portfolio in the S&P GSCI, the futures in the index held relatively steady, closing at 474.01 (-0.3%).

The metal futures we monitor were mostly weaker; four eased and two strengthened, closing as follows: gold at $1,732.30 (-0.5%), silver at $25.114 (-4.6%), platinum at $1,177.90 (-1.8%), palladium at $2,676.10 (+1.7%), copper at $4.0680 (-1.1%) and aluminum at $2,298 (+1.4%).

Energy commodities were fairly flat in their weekly moves. There was a slight pullback in NYMEX WTI crude oil (-0.8%) to $60.97 per barrel, and ICE Brent budged a bit higher, ending at $64.57 (+0.1%). U.S. refined product futures diverged somewhat: April gasoline added 1.2%, closing the week at $1.9673, and heating oil for April slipped 0.7% to $1.8100 per gallon. Natural gas had a lackluster week, given that the April ”shoulder month” is nearing. NYMEX Henry Hub nat gas firmed 0.9%, ending at $2.557 per mmBtu.

In the sector of food products and other agricultural items, the lion’s share of markets we cover fell during the week, except for livestock. Hog prices jumped 6.9%, surpassing $1 per pound for the first time since late 2014, to close at 100.800 on Friday. Cattle’s move for the week was an increase to 120.100 (+1.4%). Everything else we report in this grouping lost ground. The settlements and weekly movements were as follows: soybeans at $14.00½ (-1.1%), corn at $5.52½ (-0.9%), $6.13¼ (-2.2%), coffee at 128.50 (-0.4%), sugar at 15.19¢ (-3.6%), cocoa at $2,548 (-1.4%) and cotton at 80.38¢ (-5.1%).

Current Standings

2021 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Adrian Koemel	80%	Germany
2	Liberato Adamo	78%	Italy
3	Kevin McCormick	73.4%	United States
4	John Beal	61.2%	Australia
5	Jurg Diemand	58.9%	Switzerland

January 1, 2021 – March 26, 2021

2021 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Carlo Termini	852%	Italy
2	Robert Miner	174%	United States
3	Patrick Nill	103.4%	Germany
4	Raul Glavan	92.7%	Germany
5	Adrian Koemel	78.8%	Germany

January 1, 2021 – March 26, 2021

2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION	DIVISION
1	Stefan Seibert	215.6%	Germany	Futures
2	Jan Smolen	161.7%	Slovakia	Futures
3	Patrick Nill	120.8%	Germany	Futures
4	Marek Chrastina	92.8%	Slovakia	Futures
5	Adrian Koemel	80.1%	Germany	Futures

June 1, 2020 – March 26, 2021

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Weekly Market Recap – April 1, 2021

In the Markets

Initial jobless claims came in at 719,000 compared with 658,000 the previous week; yet, the monthly non-farm payrolls tally showed an improvement with 675,000 in March vs. 379,000 for February. The overall unemployment rate is now 6.0% vs. 6.2% a month ago. The consumer confidence index gained from the last reported level, leaping from 90.4 to 109.7 in a month’s time. Construction spending dipped from +1.2% in February to -0.8% in March. Some analysts attributed the drop to severe weather impacting construction projects. According to the Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, January’s home price level was an 11.2% increase (on a year-over-year basis), compared with the 10.4% February number. This was the eighth consecutive month of rising home prices, the highest rise in 15 years (+14.5% in September 2005). On Thursday, President Biden revealed details of his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan. The U.S. coronavirus vaccination rate is now surpassing three million doses per day.

With the 2021 first-quarter ending on Wednesday, and Easter weekend shortening the week to a Thursday close, the stock indices we report all moved higher. Only the DJIA and the S&P 500 made record highs. For the week, the DJIA rose 0.2% to 33,153.21 (+7.8% Q1). The S&P 500 increased 1.1% to 4,019.87 (+5.8% Q1). The NASDAQ Composite gained 2.6% to 13,480.11 (+2.8% Q1), and the Russell 2000 added 1.5% to 180.62 (+12.6% Q1). CBOE’s VIX settled at 17.33 (-8.1%). The U.S. Dollar Index ended the week at 92.89 (+0.2%), and the GSCI was unchanged (0.0%) at 474.02 on Thursday. For their first quarter improvements, the Dollar Index strengthened 3.6%, while the GSCI soared 14.2%.

Five of the six metal futures we focus on in our recap were weaker. End-of-week closing prices were as follows: gold at $1,728.40 (-0.4%), silver at $24.948 (-0.7%), platinum at $1,208.60 (+2.3%), palladium at $2,655.80 (-0.8%), copper at $3.9904 (-1.9%) and aluminum at $2,213.00 (-3.7%).

In the energy futures contracts, the charts show mixed, sideways moves in the petroleum segment. NYMEX WTI added 0.8% to $61.45 per barrel. Likewise, Brent crude increased 0.7%, ending at $64.86 on Thursday. U.S. refined products went a bit lower: heating oil lost 2.1%, closing the week at $1.7713, and RBOB gasoline eased 0.7% to $1.9533 per gallon. Natural gas continued to inch higher, firming by 0.8%, taking the May futures to $2.639 per mmBtu.

Directional movement in the agriculture markets gave our list of nine products an overall score of three higher vs. six lower. The gainers were: Soybeans at $14.02 per bushel (+0.1%), corn 1.3% higher closing at $5.59¾, and lean hogs went out at 101.775 (+1.0%). The contracts that lost value were: coffee, with it’s 5.4% drop to 121.60, sugar at 14.71¢ (-3.2%), cocoa at $2,392 (-2.7%), cotton at 77.95¢ per pound (-3.0%), live cattle at 120.025 (-0.1%), and wheat slipped 0.4% for the week, settling at $6.11 per bushel.

Current Standings

2021 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Kevin McCormick	82.5%	United States
2	Adrian Koemel	79.2%	Germany
3	Liberato Adamo	64.4%	Italy
4	Jurg Diemand	55.5%	Switzerland
5	Graeme Adams	54.1%	New Zealand

January 1, 2021 – April 1, 2021

2021 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Carlo Termini	542.9%	Italy
2	Robert Miner	181.2%	United States
3	Patrick Nill	103.4%	Germany
4	Adrian Koemel	78.8%	Germany
5	Erik Gandino	61%	Italy

January 1, 2021 – April 1, 2021

2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION	DIVISION
1	Stefan Seibert	203.1%	Germany	Futures
2	Jan Smolen	142.7%	Slovakia	Futures
3	Patrick Nill	112.2%	Germany	Futures
4	Marek Chrastina	108.3%	Slovakia	Futures
5	M. Vontobel, Tirutrade AG	80.8%	Switzerland	Futures

June 1, 2020 – April 1, 2021

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Weekly Market Recap – April 9, 2021

In the Markets

The Federal Reserve released its monthly report that outstanding consumer credit, a vital sign of the economy, increased in February at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.9%.
Balance of trade, reported by the Department of Commerce, for February, showed the deficit grew by $71.1 billion, compared with January’s $67.8 billion trade flow. Producer prices were up 1.0% vs. the prior month’s 0.5% increase, and February wholesale inventories increased 0.6%; the January change was +1.4%. February factory orders fell 0.8% vs. +2.7% in January, initial jobless claims, the pulse of the nations’ workforce, ticked higher again rising by 744,000 compared with the previous week’s 728,000. On Wednesday, the Biden administration unveiled a plan to raise the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28%, and also limit the ability of domestic corporations to avoid taxes by shifting their profits offshore. The “UK variant” (B.1.1.7.) is now the dominant strain of coronavirus in the U.S., as hospitalizations rise again. Currently, the states hardest hit are Michigan, Texas, Georgia, and Florida.

Three of the four stock market benchmarks covered in our recap had strong performances. The Russell 2000 slipped a bit (-0.5%) to 179.80, while the others advanced. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 33,800.60 with a 2.0% rise. The S&P 500 added 2.7%, trading 4,128.80 at the close. The NASDAQ Composite went out at 13,900.19 (+3.1% for the week). CBOE’s VIX settled at 16.69 (-3.7%), its lowest end-of-week close since February 14, 2020. The U.S. Dollar Index lost ground, moving 0.8% lower to 92.18 at settlement. Commodity prices were mixed, as evidenced by the S&P GSCI, reflecting the weakness in energy countered by strength in metals and agricultural products. The index eased 0.5%, ending the week at 471.50, its lowest level in seven weeks.

The futures we follow in the metals markets mostly moved to the plus side: gold ended at $1,744.80 (+0.9%), silver settled at $25.325 (+1.5%), platinum added 0.1% to $1,209.30 per ounce, aluminum rose 2.3% to close at $2,264.00 and copper increased 1.2% to $4.0400 per pound. Only one of our featured metals went negative: June palladium lost 0.7%, printing $2,636.00 at the close.

Falling energy prices for the week pointed to returning demand concerns about the coronavirus, coupled with rising supplies. Prices were down, across the board: NYMEX WTI ended at $59.32 per barrel (-3.5%) and ICE Brent dropped 2.9% to its $62.95 settlement. May heating oil retreated 1.3% to close at $1.8076 per gallon, while RBOB gasoline decreased to $1.9621 (-3.0%). Natural gas continued to sink, taking a 4.3% hit down to $2.526 per MMBtu, the lowest Friday close since January 22nd.

Regarding the agriculture markets, the week saw most of our featured products move higher, only cocoa declined, losing 1.6% to end the Friday session at $2,354 per ton, the lowest close for the May contract since mid-November. For the week’s gainers, the settlements stacked up like this: soybeans at $14.03 (+0.1%), corn at $5.77¼ (3.1%), wheat at $6.38¾ (+4.5%), coffee at 127.25 (+4.6%), sugar at 15.46¢ (+5.1%), cotton at 82.40¢ per pound (+5.7%), live cattle at 123.425 (+2.8%), and lean hogs at 103.475 (+1.7%).

Current Standings

2021 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Kevin McCormick	89.8%	United States
2	Adrian Koemel	79.2%	Germany
3	Nikolai Dmitriev	64.4%	Russia
4	Jurg Diemand	64.3%	Switzerland
5	Weichou Chen	62.6%	Japan

January 1, 2021 – April 9, 2021

2021 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Carlo Termini	296.9%	Italy
2	Robert Miner	196.3%	United States
3	Patrick Nill	103.4%	Germany
4	Erik Gandino	79.5%	Italy
5	Adrian Koemel	79%	Germany

January 1, 2021 – April 9, 2021

2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION	DIVISION
1	Stefan Seibert	210.4%	Germany	Futures
2	Marek Chrastina	131.8%	Slovakia	Futures
3	Jan Smolen	120%	Slovakia	Futures
4	Patrick Nill	112.3%	Germany	Futures
5	M. Vontobel, Tirutrade AG	97.2%	Switzerland	Futures

June 1, 2020 – April 9, 2021

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Weekly Market Recap – April 16, 2021

In the Markets

The federal budget for March showed a $660 billion deficit vs. $119 billion in February. In this fiscal year, which began October 1st, the U.S. has so far spent a record $3.4 trillion. The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits plunged to its lowest level since the start of the coronavirus crisis; 576,000 initial jobless claims were filed, as opposed to the previous week’s 769,000. Other key economic statistics, compared with their prior level were as follows: consumer prices at +0.6% (vs. +0.4%), retail sales +9.8% (vs. -2.7%), industrial production +1.4% (vs. -0.6%), capacity utilization is 74.4% (vs. 73.4%), business inventories were +0.5% (vs. +0.4%), and housing starts were 1.74 million (vs. 1.46 million). President Biden announced his plan to end America’s longest war. He will withdraw the 3,500 remaining U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 11, 2021. Citing concerns about side effects, CDC and FDA recommended that the U.S. pause use of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine.

The stock market benchmarks we track in our recap had strong performances, with two of the four hitting new record highs. They were the S&P 500 (+1.4%), which ended at 4,185.47 on Friday, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, closing at 34,200.67 with a 1.2% rise. As for the other two, NASDAQ’s Composite added 1.1%, trading 14,052.34 at the close. The Russell 2000 went out at 181.56 (+1.0%) for the week. CBOE’s VIX settled at 16.25 (-2.6%), its lowest end-of-week close in fourteen months. The U.S. Dollar Index eased a bit (-0.7%) to 91.53 as its final Friday valuation. Commodity prices mostly strengthened, as measured by the S&P GSCI. The index ended the week at 488.72 (+3.7%).

Buying in metals persisted in most of the futures we monitor. Settlements and weekly changes were as follows: gold at $1,780.20 (+2.0%), silver at $26.105 (+3.1%), platinum at $1,208.70 (0.0%), palladium at $2,774.70 (+5.3%), copper at $4.1680 (+3.2%), and aluminum at $2,315.00 (+2.3%).

The week’s greatest percent changes in commodities were in the energy group. WTI crude oil on NYMEX shot up 6.4% to $63.13 per barrel. Likewise, ICE Brent ended Friday’s session at $66.77 (+6.1%). Refined products followed suit, with heating oil increasing 4.9% to $1.8957 per gallon, and gasoline rising back over two dollars again, going out at $2.0399 (+4.0%). As April is turning out to be one of the coldest in 20 years for most of the U.S., natural gas rallied 6.1% to $2.680 per mmBtu.

Among the nine agricultural products featured here, gainers outnumbered losers 7 to 2. Soybeans closed at $14.33¼ (+2.2%), wheat advanced 2.2%, ending the week at $6.52½, while corn settled at $5.85½ (+1.4%). Crop issues in Brazil contributed to coffee’s strength; the May contract rose to 129.15 (+1.5%). Cocoa prices moved up by 2.3%, ending at $2,408 per metric ton. Sugar futures spiked to 16.72¢ per pound (+8.2%). Cotton prices added 1.6%, as May’s final price for the week was 83.71¢. Livestock contracts traded lower, with live cattle declining to 119.175 (-2.8%), while lean hog prices took a 6.7% dive to close at 101.700, all but wiping out the previous week’s 7.0% jump.

Current Standings

2021 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Kevin McCormick	110.2%	United States
2	John Beal	93.8%	Australia
3	Adrian Koemel	74.9%	Germany
4	Marek Chrastina	66.4%	Slovakia
5	Jurg Diemand	65.1%	Switzerland

January 1, 2021 – April 16, 2021

2021 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Carlo Termini	316.7%	Italy
2	Robert Miner	165.8%	United States
3	Patrick Nill	103.4%	Germany
4	Adrian Koemel	79%	Germany
5	Erik Gandino	77.8%	Italy

January 1, 2021 – April 16, 2021

2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION	DIVISION
1	Stefan Seibert	205%	Germany	Futures
2	Marek Chrastina	149.3%	Slovakia	Futures
3	Jan Smolen	129.7%	Slovakia	Futures
4	Adrian Koemel	87%	Germany	Futures
5	Patrick Nill	83.5%	Germany	Futures

June 1, 2020 – April 16, 2021

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Weekly Market Recap – April 23, 2021

In the Markets

There was another weekly decrease in Initial jobless claims with 547,000 first-time filings, down from the previous 586,000. The week’s list of other U.S. economic statistic reports was smaller than usual: existing home sales for March were 6.01 million vs. 6.24 million in February, while new home sales were 1.01 million, compared to 846,000 for the same period. The index of leading economic indicators rose 1.3% in March, after a 0.1% decline in February. In the U.S., a record 21% of new coronavirus cases in April, so far, are children. On Friday, the FDA announced that it would lift the temporary suspension imposed on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

U.S. Treasury yields have eased and stabilized after hitting one-year highs in late March. Stock market indices declined a bit during the week. The NASDAQ Composite moved 0.3% lower to 14,016.81 at Friday’s close. The S&P 500 eased to 4,180.17 (-0.1%), and the DJI slipped to 34,043.49 (-0.5%). CBOE’s VIX had its first upward weekly move in five weeks, advancing to 17.33 (+6.6%). In currency markets, the U.S. Dollar Index softened, decreasing 0.8% to reach 90.83 at the week’s end. Commodities, in general, are still increasing, as evidenced by the S&P GSCI. This diversified portfolio of futures closed at 494.10 (+1.1%), its highest end-of-week level since October of 2018.

Metals futures ranged from slightly lower to higher. Closing prices and percentage changes from the previous Friday ended as follows: gold at $1,777.80 (-0.1%), silver at $26.075 (-0.1%), platinum at $1,233.10 (+2.0%), palladium at $2,857.00 (+3.0%), copper at $4.3360 (+4.0%), and aluminum at $2,354.00 (+2.1%).

Crude oil contracts booked negative moves for the week, as NYMEX June WTI ended Friday’s session at $62.14 (-1.7%), and ICE Brent declined 1.0%, to settle at $66.11 per barrel. Refined products retreated, as well: May heating oil lost 1.2%, closing at $1.8735, while RBOB gasoline fell 2.2%, settling at $1.9957 per gallon. Unlike the petroleum sector, natural gas had another up-week (+1.9%) going out at $2.730 per mmBtu.

Agricultural products were the commodity group with the most noteworthy action. Grains took center stage as wheat and corn, in addition to soybeans, all skyrocketed, with a couple of limit-up moves during the week. Driven by the freezing conditions in the grain belt, hindering planting activity, and also influenced by buying from China, the most active futures moved as follows: wheat soared 8.9% to $7.10¼, corn leaped 12.0% to $6.55½, and soybeans closed at $15.39¾ (+7.4%) per bushel. The other agricultural products on the rise were coffee, getting up to 138.50 (+5.6%), sugar hitting 16.91⊄ per pound (+1.1%), cotton ending at 87.51⊄ (+4.5%), and lean hogs went out at 105.725 (+4.0%). Of the nine contracts we track in this sector, only two of them decreased: live cattle fell to 115.725 (-2.9%), and cocoa eased 0.6% to $2,450 per ton.

Current Standings

2021 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Kevin McCormick	100%	United States
2	Weichou Chen	93.8%	Japan
3	John Beal	85.5%	Australia
4	Marco Vironda Gambin	76.9%	Italy
5	Ivan Scherman	71.9%	Argentina

January 1, 2021 – April 23, 2021

2021 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Carlo Termini	360.8%	Italy
2	Robert Miner	107.9%	United States
3	Patrick Nill	103.4%	Germany
4	Adrian Koemel	75.2%	Germany
5	Erik Gandino	74.6%	Italy

January 1, 2021 – April 23, 2021

2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION	DIVISION
1	Stefan Seibert	206.9%	Germany	Futures
2	Marek Chrastina	203%	Slovakia	Futures
3	Jan Smolen	142.6%	Slovakia	Futures
4	Weichou Chen	103.7%	Japan	Futures
5	Adrian Koemel	90.5%	Germany	Futures

June 1, 2020 – April 23, 2021

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Weekly Market Recap – April 30, 2021

Agricultural products were the commodity group with the most noteworthy action. Grains took center stage as wheat and corn, in addition to soybeans, all skyrocketed, with a couple of limit- up moves during the week. Driven by the freezing conditions in the grain belt, hindering planting activity, and also influenced by buying from China, the most active futures moved as follows: wheat soared 8.9% to $7.10¼, corn leaped 12.0% to $6.55½, and soybeans closed at $15.39¾ (+7.4%) per bushel. The other agricultural products on the rise were coffee, getting up to 138.50 (+5.6%), sugar hitting 16.91⊄ per pound (+1.1%), cotton ending at 87.51⊄ (+4.5%), and lean hogs went out at 105.725 (+4.0%). Of the nine contracts we track in this sector, only two of them decreased: live cattle fell to 115.725 (-2.9%), and cocoa eased 0.6% to $2,450 per ton.

Current Standings

2021 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Weichou Chen	134.6%	Japan
2	Kevin McCormick	103.3%	United States
3	Marek Chrastina	83%	Slovakia
4	John Beal	81.9%	Australia
5	Ivan Scherman	75.5%	Argentina

January 1, 2021 – April 30, 2021

2021 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Carlo Termini	198.9%	Italy
2	Robert Miner	147%	United States
3	Patrick Nill	109.2%	Germany
4	Chien-Hung Chen	75.5%	Taiwan
5	Erik Gandino	69.1%	Italy

January 1, 2021 – April 30, 2021

2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION	DIVISION
1	Stefan Seibert	215.7%	Germany	Futures
2	Marek Chrastina	214.6%	Slovakia	Futures
3	Jan Smolen	159.9%	Slovakia	Futures
4	Weichou Chen	141.2%	Japan	Futures
5	Adrian Koemel	90.4%	Germany	Futures

June 1, 2020 – April 30, 2021

The post Weekly Market Recap – April 30, 2021 appeared first on World Cup Trading Championships.

Weekly Market Recap – May 7, 2021

The week’s U.S. economic news was dominated by employment statistics. Despite the weekly drop in initial jobless claims to 498,000 (the lowest since the pandemic began), the overall measurement of job growth was less than analysts had expected. Nonfarm payrolls showed a 266,000 increase; Wall Street had predicted 1 million. The unexpected hiring pace was uneven: new jobs in the leisure and hospitality sectors were outnumbered by losses in retail and manufacturing. The unemployment rate is now 6.1% vs. 6.0% a month ago.

Construction spending rose 0.2% for March, compared with the 0.6% drop in February. The March balance of trade, reported by the Department of Commerce, showed the deficit grew by $74.4 billion vs. the February trade flow of negative 70.5 billion. March factory orders increased 1.1% vs. a prior 0.5% decrease. Wholesale inventories improved 1.4%; the previous month’s report was a +0.9% gain. Consumer credit contracted to $20 billion in March vs. February’s $28 billion. On Monday, the Treasury Department announced its expected borrowing target is more than $1 trillion for the rest of the fiscal year, as the nation continues spending heavily to address the coronavirus crisis. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 33.4% of Americans are now fully vaccinated for COVID-19. Last week’s CDC count was 31.0%.

Stock markets were mixed for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 34,777.76 (+2,7%), the S&P 500 went out at 4,232.60 (+1.2%); while the NASDAQ Composite went out lower, settling at 13,752.24 (-1.5%). Volatility eased by 10.3%, as evidenced by CBOE’s VIX, with its 16.69 final valuation on Friday. In the currency market, the greenback took a drubbing as the U.S. Dollar Index fell 1.2% to 90.22, its lowest Friday close in fifteen weeks (90.21 on January 22nd). Commodity prices surged, as per the S&P GSCI. The index ended the week at 523.02 (+3.4%), a level not seen in six-and-a-half years (November 2014).

Copper took center stage in the metals markets, making an all-time high of $10,440 per metric ton on the LME. Analysts have dubbed the red metal as the new oil, based on its crucial role in the green economy with the expectation that electricity could overtake fossil fuels. COMEX July copper futures closed up 6.3% for the week, ending at $4.7485 per pound. Aluminum, the other industrial base metal we feature in our recap, settled at $2,450 per ton (+6.0%). In the bullion sector, the precious metals closed as follows: gold at $1,831.30 (+3.6%), silver at $27.477 (+6.2%), platinum at $1,254.50 (+4.1%). June palladium contracts, having made a new contract high on Tuesday ($3,019.00) took a corrective dip into Friday, ending down 1.0% for the week at $2,925.10 per Troy ounce.

Although the energies had no record prices, the week for the complex kept on an upward course. WTI crude oil on NYMEX rose 2.1% to $64.90 per barrel. ICE Brent followed, ending Friday’s session at $68.28 (+2.3%). Refined products played the same tune: ultra-low sulfur diesel hit the high note, increasing 4.6% to $2.0106 per gallon, and gasoline advanced to $2.1269 (+2.4%). June natural gas added 2.7¢ (+0.9%) to $2.958 per mmBtu.

The agricultural products that we monitor showed steady strength. Of the nine futures on our roster, eight advanced, and one declined. June live cattle contracts weakened, closing at 116.025 (-0.5%). For the gainers, closing prices and net weekly percentages were as follows: soybeans closed at $15.89¾ (+3.6%), wheat at $7.61¾ (+3.7%), corn at $7.32¼ (+8.8%), coffee at 152.90 (+8.1%), cocoa at $2,463 per metric ton (+3.4%), sugar at 17.49¢ per pound (+3.0%), cotton at 89.66¢ (+1.0%), and lean hogs closed at 112.850 (+2.8%).

Current Standings

2021 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Weichou Chen	141%	Japan
2	Marek Chrastina	131.4%	Slovakia
3	Graeme Adams	77.6%	New Zealand
4	Jurg Diemand	75.3%	Switzerland
5	Kevin McCormick	70.3%	United States

January 1, 2021 – May 7, 2021

2021 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION
1	Patrick Nill	164.3%	Germany
2	Sergey Shirko	118.3%	Latvia
3	Chien-Hung Chen	98.5%	Taiwan
4	Carlo Termini	97.1%	Italy
5	Erik Gandino	80%	Italy

January 1, 2021 – May 7, 2021

2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship

RANK	NAME	NET RETURN	LOCATION	DIVISION
1	Weichou Chen	251.9%	Japan	Futures
2	Stefan Seibert	215%	Germany	Futures
3	Jan Smolen	212.4%	Slovakia	Futures
4	Marek Chrastina	195.7%	Slovakia	Futures
5	Patrick Nill	137.9%	Germany	Futures