JimHuangChicago

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Micro Ether Futures ( CME:MET1! ), #microfutures On May 22nd, #Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $111,814. The king of cryptos rallied as bullish sentiment built up behind the most pro-crypto U.S. administration. As of last Friday, bitcoin realized a one-year return of +90.8%. For comparison, holding S&P 500 only yields 11.8% for a year, even after the...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Micro Bitcoin Futures ( CME:MBT1! ), #microfutures On June 5th, Circle Internet Group ( NYSE:CRCL ), issuer of the #USDC #stablecoin, debuted its initial public offering at $31 per share. By June 23rd, NYSE:CRCL prices peaked at $298.99, up nearly ten folds in just 13 trading days. At Friday's closing of $180.43, Circle has a market cap at $40.2 billion....

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Micro E-Mini Nasdaq 100 Index Futures ($MNQ) #TheFuturesLeap #Microfutures Investors have defied the Wall Street adage of “Sell in May and Go Away”. The S&P 500 rose by 6.2% in May while the Nasdaq climbed 9.6%. Both indices notched their best monthly results since 2023. The Dow Jones gained 3.9% for the month. The S&P stood out as it recorded its best...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CBOT: Micro Soybean Futures ( CBOT_MINI:MZS1! ) What’s the import duty China levied on U.S. soybeans? This is a million-dollar question. Below is a timeline of how dramatically the tariff changed over the past few months: • At the start of the year, China levied a 3% tariff on soybeans originated from the U.S. • On March 10th, as a retaliatory method against...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

CME: Micro E-Mini Russell 2000 Index Futures ( CME_MINI:M2K1! ) On Saturday, May 3rd, Warren Buffett took the center stage of the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting. “What has happened in the last 30, 45 days … is really nothing,” declared the “Oracle of Omaha”. Buffett brushed off recent stock market volatility that has rattled investors over the...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

COMEX: Micro Gold Futures ( COMEX_MINI:MGC1! ), Micro Silver Futures ( COMEX_MINI:SIL1! ) The Gold-Silver Ratio is a financial term that measures the relative value of gold to silver. Specifically, how many ounces of silver it takes to buy one ounce of gold. The Gold-Silver Ratio is an important tool for traders and investors. It has been used to indicate the...

JimHuangChicago Wizard

NYMEX: RBOB Gasoline Futures ( NYMEX:RB1! ) WTI crude oil futures declined 13.4% since the beginning of the year. It dropped as much as $20 from the mid-January peak of $80 a barrel, before recovering to $64 last week. In my commentary on February 11th, “Reversal of US Energy Policy Could Push Crude Oil Lower”, I described the main reasons behind the oil market...

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...