Weekly Market Recap – May 20, 2022
The U.S. is now seeing more than 100,000 COVID-19 cases per day for the first time in months; cases are up 52% and hospitalizations are up 31% in the past two weeks. On Wednesday, President Biden invoked the Defense Production Act to expedite the production of baby formula and approved the use of government aircraft for imports to alleviate shortages. The first shipment of 78,000 pounds of specialty infant formula is due to arrive over the weekend via U.S. military planes.
Monthly economic statistics released during the week, compared with the prior month were as follows: retail sales +0.9% vs. +1.4%, industrial production +1.1% vs. +0.9%, business inventories +2.0% vs. +1.9%, capacity utilization 79.0% vs. 78.2%, housing starts 1.72 million vs. 1.73 million, building permits 1.82 million vs. 1.88 million, existing home sales 5.61 million vs. 5.75 million, and leading economic indicators -0.3% vs. +0.1%. Weekly statistics for initial jobless claims were 218,000 vs. 197,000, and continuing claims were 1.32 million vs. 1.34 million.
According to Dow Jones Market Data, the DJIA booked an eighth straight weekly decline, its longest weekly losing streak in 90 years (April 1932). For the Dow and the other two indices we feature here, the DJIA had a 2.9% setback, going out at 31,261.90 on Friday, the S&P 500 closed at 3,901.36 (-3.0%) and the NASDAQ Composite ended at 11,354.62 (-3.8%). Volatility remained throughout the week as the CBOE VIX closed at 29.43 points (+1.9%). In currencies, the USD Index futures backed off of the previous week’s 20-year high, to settle at 103.173 (-1.4%). Commodity inflation continues, but with fewer jolts than a couple of months ago. The S&P GSCI basket of futures climbed to 765.76 at the week’s end (+0.8%).
Strength persisted across the board for the metals futures we track. Settlements and percentage increases were: gold at $1,842.10 (+1.9%), silver at $21.674 (+3.2%), platinum at $941.10 (+1.1%), palladium at $1,939.70 (+1.1%), copper at $4.2750 (+2.4%) and aluminum at $2,946.00 (+5.7%).
On the energy charts, the futures contracts on our radar were mixed for the week. NYMEX WTI rose to $113.23 per barrel, up 2.5%. ICE Brent firmed to $112.55 (+0.9%). Heating oil dropped 4.6%, closing the week at $3.7391, and RBOB gasoline lost 3.1% to $3.8370 per gallon. Natural gas sharply advanced to $8.083 per mmBtu (+5.5%). The ICE TTF Dutch gas took a 9.3% dive, going out at €87.902 per MWh.
Three of the nine agricultural products we monitor moved higher and six of them decreased. Soybeans gained 3.6% to $17.05¼ per bushel, and corn eased 0.3%, going out at $7.78¾. Wheat slipped to $11.68¾ (-0.7%). Coffee rose to $2.1585 per pound (+0.9%), and sugar breached the 20¢ level again, but came off on the close, ending the week at 19.95¢ per pound (+4.1%). Cocoa declined 1.6% to $2,429 per ton, and cotton closed at 142.27¢ (-2.0%).
Futures Referenced in Market Recap
| Exchange | Commodity | Contract Month |
|---|---|---|
| CME | Live Cattle | June |
| CME | Lean Hogs | June |
| CBT | Soybeans | July |
| CBT | Corn | July |
| CBT | Wheat | July |
| ICE | Coffee | July |
| ICE | Cocoa | July |
| ICE | Sugar | May |
| ICE | Cotton | May |
| ICE | Brent Crude | July |
| ICE | Dutch TTF Gas | June |
| ICE | USD Index | June |
| NYMEX | WTI Crude | June |
| NYMEX | ULSD (Heating Oil) | June |
| NYMEX | RBOB (Gasoline) | June |
| NYMEX | Natural Gas | June |
| NYMEX | Platinum | July |
| NYMEX | Palladium | June |
| COMEX | Gold | June |
| COMEX | Silver | July |
| COMEX | Copper | July |
| LME | Aluminum | 3 Mo. Forward |
Current Standings
2022 World Cup Championship of Futures Trading®
| RANK | NAME | NET RETURN | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stefano Serafini | 227.5% | Italy |
| 2 | Marek Chrastina | 177% | Slovakia |
| 3 | Marco Vironda Gambin | 129.8% | Italy |
| 4 | Allen Swiontek | 115.3% | USA |
| 5 | Antonello Camiletti | 108.6% | Italy |
January 1, 2022 – May 20, 2022
2022 World Cup Championship of Forex Trading®
| RANK | NAME | NET RETURN | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrick Nill | 107.6% | Germany |
| 2 | K. Takegawa | 74.7% | Japan |
| 3 | Eik Baumgarten | 69.4% | Germany |
| 4 | Kenji Sasaki | 63.6% | Japan |
| 5 | Thomas Helling | 55.7% | Germany |
January 1, 2022 – May 20, 2022
2021-2022 Global Cup Trading Championship
| RANK | NAME | NET RETURN | LOCATION | DIVISION |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kevin Stufflebeam | 533.6% | USA | Futures |
| 2 | Antonio Ferlito | 132.5% | Italy | Futures |
| 3 | Patrick Nill | 94.5% | Germany | Forex |
| 4 | Philipp Kozalla | 64.1% | Germany | Futures |
| 5 | Brent Carlile | 62.4% | Netherlands | Futures |
June 1, 2021 – May 20, 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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