It is a sluggish session with major indices in red territory. The pressure comes as the ten-year yield reaches 5%. In addition, today is quad-witching day which refers to date when stock index futures, stock index options, stock options, and single stock futures expire simultaneously. September’s quarterly options expiry hit $7 trillion, marking the second largest on record.

Mag Seven

It feels like “Mag Seven” is trying to get together, with Amazon (AMZN) and Alphabet (GOOG/L) up most of the session. Nvidia (NVDA) is also higher with other chip names showing spunk.

Bitcoin is soaring and crossing above the $80k level again and forming a cup and handle. A break above $83k can take the crypto to $108k.

AI Developments

Cybersecurity researchers used Anthropic’s Claude to gain access to an OpenAI employee’s ChatGPT account. This has raised concerns as AI models can become useful to hackers and adversaries.

In other news, Anthropic built a biology lab to develop AI-driven drug treatments for rare diseases. It is now conducting physical research both in-house and with external partners.

Economic News

The Leading Economic Index ticked down in August after rising 0.1% in July.

Have a great weekend!