JimHuangChicago

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Options on E-Mini S&P 500 Futures ( CME_MINI:ES1! ) Last week’s bloodshed of global financial market made history. Nearly all major asset classes fell into a market turmoil driven by tariffs and retaliations. Let’s focus on the US stock market: • Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 7.76% in the week of March 31st to April 4th, making it the 4th worst...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CBOT: Micro Soybean Futures ( CBOT_MINI:MZS1! ) Shipping industry news recently reported that 30 U.S. soybean ships (about 2 million tons) are currently heading to China, nearly half of which will arrive after April 12th, when China's 10% retaliatory tariffs on U.S. soybeans will take effect. How big are the tariffs? Let’s say a cargo of soybeans, or 65,000...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CBOT: Micro Soybean Futures ( CBOT_MINI:MZS1! ) Let’s rewire the clock back for seven years. In 2018, trade tensions escalated between the US and China, resulting in a series of tariffs and retaliations. On July 6, 2018, US imposed a 25% tariff on $34 billion of Chinese imports. On the same day, China immediately hit back with 25% tariff on equal value of US...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Micro Bitcoin Futures ( CME:MBT1! ) On the morning of March 2nd, President Donald Trump posted a tweet to reinforce his commitment to a Crypto Strategic Reserve, including XRP, SOL and ADA. Cryptocurrency market took off immediately. Despite not being mentioned in the tweet, Bitcoin shot up from $78,400 to $83,900, and Ethereum from $2,090 to $2,240. Later...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Micro EUR/USD Futures ( CME_MINI:M6E1! ) #Microfutures Since the US election last November, the Euro currency has lost ground against the US dollar, with the EUR/USD exchange rate sliding from 1.08 to as low as 1.02. A combination of new policies from the Trump administration aims to strengthen the dollar. Recent efforts to end the geopolitical crisis will...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

NYMEX: Micro Crude Oil Futures ( NYMEX:MCL1! ) #Microfutures On January 20th, President Donald Trump signed an executive order, “Declaring a National Energy Emergency”. This sets the tone of US energy policy for the next 4 years. By declaring national emergency and raising energy independence to the highest level of national security, President Trump introduced...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

COMEX: Micro Gold Futures ( COMEX_MINI:MGC1! ) #Microfutures The United States will be implementing new tariffs on Saturday, February 1st, including 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada as well as a 10% duty on all goods from China. These countries are the Top 3 U.S. trading partners, contributing to 40% of all goods and services imported into the US in 2023,...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Micro E-Mini Nasdaq 100 Futures ( CME_MINI:MNQ1! ) #Microfutures DeepSeek might have changed the landscape of artificial intelligence forever. Since the launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022, A.I. ran on advanced computer chips and large language models, costing billions for anyone to get in the game. DeepSeek, a Chinese startup, made a competitive A.I. model...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Micro E-Mini S&P 500 Futures ( CME_MINI:MES1! ) #Microfutures In “A Song of Ice and Fire”, American author George Martin painted a mystical land where dragons spit out flame to destroy a whole city and a winter that last one hundred years. Game of Thrones, the popular HBO TV series, was adapted from Martin’s book. In 2025, we seem to be reliving these...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CBOT: Micro E-Mini Dow Jones Futures ( CBOT_MINI:MYM1! ) #Microfutures The United States will enter a new presidency on Monday, January 20th. Will the stock market continue its upward trend under the 47th U.S. President? Before we set our sight on the future, it’s prudent to look back in history first. While it is not a guarantee for future performance, history...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

NYMEX: Micro Henry Hub Natural Gas Futures ( CME_MINI:MNQ1! ) On December 31, 2024, the lead contract of NYMEX Henry Hub Natural Gas futures closed at $3.6330 per MMBtu. This marked a strong gain of 44.5% year-over-year, making it the best performing active futures contract for the year. Nat Gas is one of the most actively traded commodities. According to CME...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

Question: What was the best performing commodity in 2024? For many of us, the first coming to mind would be Gold. Indeed, gold had a spectacular year driven by geopolitical uncertainty and the central bank reserve buildup. Spot gold hit an all-time-high of $2,788.54 per ounce on October 30, 2024. However, Gold retreated nearly $200 since due to the diminishing...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Micro E-Mini S&P 500 Futures ( CME_MINI:MES1! ) The Year of the Dragon is quickly approaching the end. If you invested in U.S. stocks, the chances are you have a pretty good year so far. Let’s review how major U.S. stock market indices performed (data as of December 30th): • The blue-chip Dow Jones 30 trading at 42,992 Midday today, up 12.8% in 2024. This is...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

COMEX: Micro Gold Futures ( COMEX_MINI:MGC1! ) On Monday, gold prices tumbled 3% on reports of Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire and the nomination of Scott Bessent as the U.S. Treasury Secretary. Spot gold fell 3.4% to $2,619.43 per ounce. COMEX gold futures shed 3.4% to $2,620.8. As a safe-haven investment, gold holds strong appeal with the rise of geopolitical...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Micro EUR/USD Futures ( CME_MINI:M6E1! ) All eyes are on the November 5th U.S. presidential election. The stake can’t be higher. A bad outcome could lead to reshaping the balance of world power, an escalation of the geopolitical crises underway, and disrupting the social stability in the U.S. and beyond. Here on TradingView, I want to address this question:...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Nikkei 225 USD Futures ( CME:NKD1! ) Tokyo: The Ministry of Internal Affairs reported last Friday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in Japan increased 2.5% in September year-on-year, down from 3.0% in August. The CPI excluding fresh food rose 2.4%, down from 2.8%, during the same period. The core inflation measure, which excludes both fresh food and...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Bitcoin Weekly Futures ( MIL:BFF ) On Thursday, October 10th, The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.2% on a seasonally adjusted basis, the same increase as in August and July. Over the last 12 months, the all-items index increased 2.4% before seasonal adjustment. However, the...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

On September 24th, China announced an unprecedented fiscal stimulus, aiming to rescue its ailing economy. As soon as the news got out, China’s stock market staged a huge rally. The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) index moved from below 2,800 on September 24th to close at 3,336.5 on September 30th, up 19% in a week. One-month return for the SSE and notable Chinese...