In many ways, especially for retail investors, that's a picture of the modern market. A place where rumor, rhetoric, and anticipation can impact price action in unpredictable ways. When you add the ever-changing realities of our current political and macro-economic environment, the average Joe trader can feel like the odds are stacked against him. But there is one set of data that more often than not, cuts through the noise. And that's the options market.
(Bloomberg/Natalia Kniazhevich) US stocks advanced, driven by tech shares, after an OpenAI share sale valued the artificial intelligence company at an $500 billion. The S&P 500 rose 0.3% as of 9:33 am in New York, while the Nasdaq 100 gained 0.5%. Stocks climbed even as the US government shutdown stretched into a second day, causing a delay of weekly jobless claims and factory orders data. A separate report from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas showed that US employers dialed back hiring plans in September,