Weekly Market Recap – June 25, 2021
Initial jobless claims fell by only 7,000, as the weekly tally came in at 411,000 on Thursday; 418,000 new claims were filed the previous week. New home sales were 769,000 in May, compared to 817,000 in April. Existing home sales were 5.80 million, a small change from April’s 5.85 million. Durable goods orders for May were up 2.3% compared to the 0.8% drop in April. Personal income for May fell 2.0%, an improvement over April’s 13.1% setback. Consumer spending was unchanged (0.0%) vs. the prior month’s increase of 0.9%. 2021’s first-quarter growth was reported at 6.4%, as measured by gross domestic product, a robust increase from the Q4 GDP of 4.3%.
President Biden and a bipartisan group of centrist senators reached a $1.2 trillion deal to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. The highly contagious Delta variant of coronavirus has now been detected in 49 states. In the U.S. northwest, triple-digit temperatures set all-time high records for Seattle and Portland.
Leaping out of the gate on Monday, stocks rebounded throughout the week. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite both had record closes on Friday. The former settled at 4,280.70 (+2.7%), while the latter went out at 14,360.39 (+2.4%). Rising 3.4% for the week, the DJIA ended at 34,433.84. (344 points below its all-time high reached six weeks ago). Volatility receded as the CBOE VIX collapsed 24.5%, finishing at 15.62 points. In currency markets, the U.S Dollar Index slid to 91.81 (-0.6%). Commodities mostly rose, reversing the weakness of the prior week, as evidenced by the S&P GSCI’s up-move to 529.90 (+1.9%)
Metals strengthened in varying degrees. Closing prices and percentages were as follows: gold at $1,777.80 (+0.5%), silver at $26.087 (+0.5%), platinum at $1,103.60 (+6.0%), palladium at $2,637.20 (+6.82%), copper at $4.2920 (+3.2%) and aluminum at $2,486.00 (+4.2%).
The energy sector rallied across the board. Crude futures gained a couple of dollars per barrel, as WTI closed at $73.06 (+3.9%) and Brent hit $76.18 (+3.6%). These were nearly three-year highs for both benchmarks, driven by falling inventories and rising demand indicators. Refined products followed suit, with ultra-low sulfur diesel settling at $2.1493 (+2.7%) and gasoline at $2.2639 per gallon (+4.4%). Dangerously high temperatures persisted in the western states, boosting cooling demand and skyrocketing natgas prices by 8.7%. NYMEX Henry Hub natural gas settled at $3.496 per MMBtu.
In the agricultural futures, the nine contracts we cover in our recap, five of them increased, while four declined. Soybeans closed at $13.29¾ (-4.7%). Corn sipped 2.9%, going out at $6.36½ per bushel, and wheat dropped to $6.37 (-3.9%). Coffee rose to $1.5780 per pound (+3.8%), sugar gained 2.9%, ending the week at 16.90¢/lb., and cocoa edged up 0.3% to $2,380 per ton. Cotton for December delivery closed at 87.18¢/lb. (+2.3%). Livestock futures were mixed: live cattle eased to 121.550 (-1.0%) and lean hogs firmed to 106.875 (+6.9%).
Current Standings
2021 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®
| RANK | NAME | NET RETURN | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin McCormick | 131.1% | United States |
| 2 | Jürg Diemand | 114.3% | Switzerland |
| 3 | Stefan Seibert | 72.7% | Germany |
| 4 | Daniel Grymyr | 72.2% | United States |
| 5 | Marco Vironda Gambin | 66% | Italy |
January 1, 2021 – June 25, 2021
2021 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®
| RANK | NAME | NET RETURN | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robert Miner | 187.9% | United States |
| 2 | Patrick Nill | 184.6% | Germany |
| 3 | Sergey Shirko | 178% | Latvia |
| 4 | Cristian Franchi | 116.5% | Italy |
| 5 | Chien-Hung Chen | 99.2% | Taiwan |
January 1, 2021 – June 25, 2021
2020-2021 Global Cup Trading Championship
| RANK | NAME | NET RETURN | LOCATION | DIVISION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan Smolen | 246.6% | Slovakia | Futures |
| 2 | Stefan Seibert | 222.7% | Germany | Futures |
| 3 | Marek Chrastina | 182.4% | Slovakia | Futures |
| 4 | Patrick Nill | 125.7% | Germany | Futures |
| 5 | Maxim Schulz | 78.8% | Germany | Futures |
June 1, 2020 – May 28, 2021 – Final Pending Audit
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