Weekly Market Recap – April 8, 2022
Western nations continued their efforts to exert economic pressure against Russia: the E.U. approved a ban on Russian coal, and the U.S. moved to prohibit Russia’s energy sales to the American markets. The U.N. voted to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council due to evidence of atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine. The Senate confirmed Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s historic appointment to the Supreme Court.
Just a few monthly economic statistics were released during the week. The levels, compared with previous reports, were as follows: factory orders -0.5% vs. +1.5%, foreign trade deficit -$89.2 billion in February (unchanged from January), consumer credit $42 billion vs. $9 billion, and wholesale inventories 2.5% vs. 2.1%. Weekly initial jobless claims fell to 166,000 from 171,000 the prior week.
The stock market indices we follow sold off from the previous Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 34,721.12 (-0.3%) the S&P 500 gave back 1.3%, trading at 4,488.28 at the close, and the NASDAQ Composite went out at 13,711.00 (-3.9%). CBOE’s VIX settled at 21.16 (+7.8%). In currencies, the USD Index firmed all week, with the futures settling at 99.753 (+1.1%), which is a two-year high for the index. The portfolio of commodity futures contracts in the S&P GSCI ended the week at 720.36 (-0.1%).
Metal contracts we track in our recap had a mixed performance for the week. Closing prices and percentage changes were as follows: gold at $1,945.60 (+1.1%) per ounce, silver at $24.823 (+0.7%), platinum at $975.60 (-1.3%), palladium at $2,420.10 (+6.7%), copper at $4.7250 per pound (+0.8%), and aluminum at $3,374.50 per metric ton (-2.2%).
All but one of the energy futures on our radar lost ground during the week. The gainer was NYMEX natural gas, jumping up 9.8% to a ten-year high of $6.278 per MMBtu. The other five we cover retreated by the week’s end. Friday settlements and percent decreases for the week were: NYMEX WTI at $98.26 per barrel (-1.0%), ICE Brent at $102.78 (-1.5%), heating oil at $3.3176 per gallon (-3.1%), RBOB gasoline at $3.1316 (-0.7%), and ICE Dutch gas dropped to €103.882 per MWh (-7.4%).
Of the nine agricultural contract prices we report, six advanced and three declined. Those in the red were cotton at $132.41 (-1.6%), live cattle at 133.825 (-1.5%) and lean hogs at 114.575 (-4.9%). The winners topped off the week as follows: soybeans at $16.89 per bushel (+6.7%), corn at $7.68¾ (+4.6%), wheat at $10.51½ (+6.8%), coffee at $2.3165 per pound (+1.4%), cocoa at $2,620 per metric ton (+0.8%). Sugar closed at 20.41¢ (+5.4%), making its fourth foray in a year to test prices above 20¢ per pound.
Futures Referenced in Market Recap
| Exchange | Commodity | Contract Month |
|---|---|---|
| CME | Live Cattle | June |
| CME | Lean Hogs | June |
| CBT | Soybeans | May |
| CBT | Corn | May |
| CBT | Wheat | May |
| ICE | Coffee | May |
| ICE | Cocoa | May |
| ICE | Sugar | May |
| ICE | Cotton | May |
| ICE | Brent Crude | June |
| ICE | Dutch TTF Gas | April |
| ICE | USD Index | June |
| NYMEX | WTI Crude | May |
| NYMEX | ULSD (Heating Oil) | May |
| NYMEX | RBOB (Gasoline) | May |
| NYMEX | Natural Gas | May |
| NYMEX | Platinum | July |
| NYMEX | Palladium | June |
| COMEX | Gold | June |
| COMEX | Silver | May |
| COMEX | Copper | May |
| LME | Aluminum | 3 Mo. Forward |
Current Standings
2022 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®
| RANK | NAME | NET RETURN | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stefano Serafini | 120.7% | Italy |
| 2 | Marek Chrastina | 105.5% | Slovakia |
| 3 | Stefan Seibert | 84.4% | Germany |
| 4 | Frantz Gheller | 74.7% | Canada |
| 5 | Yugendar Rao Karnati | 63.4% | USA |
January 1, 2022 – April 8, 2022
2022 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®
| RANK | NAME | NET RETURN | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Nill | 81.8% | Germany |
| 2 | Natalja Puskorjus | 60% | Latvia |
| 3 | Koichi Takekawa | 38.9% | Japan |
| 4 | Nicholas Ridley | 34% | UK |
| 5 | Hachiware System LLC | 27.2% | Japan |
January 1, 2022 – April 8, 2022
2021-2022 Global Cup Trading Championship
| RANK | NAME | NET RETURN | LOCATION | DIVISION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Stufflebeam | 988.1% | USA | Futures |
| 2 | Antonio Ferlito | 129.8% | Italy | Futures |
| 3 | Patrick Nill | 94.5% | Germany | Forex |
| 4 | Marek Chrastina | 89.1% | Slovakia | Futures |
| 5 | Philipp Kozalla | 80.2% | Germany | Futures |
June 1, 2021 – April 8, 2022
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. CME Group is the trademark of CME Group, Inc. The Globe logo is a trademark of Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Inc.
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