So the Dow's on a winning streak and here's what matters

Hey there, Alright, so the market's having another one of those "let's just keep going up" days. All three major indexes touched record highs again today, with the Dow up triple digits for what would be the fourth straight session. Strong earnings reports are helping, but honestly? Everyone's just killing time until Big Tech reports and the Fed starts their two-day meeting today. The small-cap Russell 2000 is quietly down after yesterday's high, which tells me not everyone's feeling the love at these levels. Here's the individual stock action that's actually interesting: JetBlue is getting crushed – Down 10.7% to $4.21 after posting wider-than-expected losses. But here's what caught my attention: options traders are piling in with 41,000 calls versus 18,000 puts today. That's six times normal volume. Most popular? The January 2026 7-strike call, followed by the weekly 5-strike call. People are betting this thing bounces, even though it's been stuck in penny stock territory and down 46% for the year. The 180-day moving average keeps rejecting it. Sometimes beaten-down stocks become value plays. Sometimes they just keep getting beaten down. Options volume suggests some traders are willing to find out which one JetBlue is. Terawulf is absolutely exploding – Up 23.7% to nearly four-year highs at $16.87. They announced a $9.5 billion AI infrastructure joint venture with Fluidstack, and Google's backing $1.3 billion of the lease obligations. Also posted an upbeat full-year forecast. This thing's up 197% year-to-date, which is what happens when you're a Bitcoin miner that pivots into AI infrastructure right when everyone's throwing money at anything AI-related. Olin Corp is having a terrible day – Down 13.7% to $20.74 after mixed quarterly results. Beat on earnings, missed on revenue due to rising costs and inventory reductions. Mizuho cut their price target to $25. The real problem? Fourth quarter is typically weak seasonally for them, so this could get worse before it gets better. Down 38% for the year, and today's not helping. What's really on everyone's mind: Big Tech earnings are about to hit. The Fed meeting kicks off today. Those are the catalysts that actually matter right now. These record highs feel a bit like everyone's just waiting around to see what happens next. Market's comfortable enough to keep climbing, but not exactly running away with conviction. My take: When markets hit records while everyone's looking ahead to the "real" events, it usually means positioning is pretty neutral. Nobody wants to short records, but nobody's aggressively buying either. The JetBlue options action is worth watching – when a beaten-down stock sees that kind of call buying after bad news, it's either smart money seeing value or retail traders catching falling knives. We'll find out which soon enough. And Terawulf? That's your reminder that being in the right sector at the right time can override pretty much everything else. Bitcoin mining was dead money until they pivoted to AI. Now they're printing money. More tomorrow – Big Tech earnings should make things interesting. Talk soon, P.S. - Those fintech earnings and that shipping stock rally we mentioned? We'll dig into those tomorrow if they stay interesting. Right now everyone's just waiting for the main event. 5151 Pfeiffer Rd Cincinnati, OH 45242 No longer want to receive these emails? Unsubscribe here. To ensure delivery of this email to your inbox, please add editor@j.schaeffersresearch.com to your email address book or safe senders list. Although there is significant profit potential associated with buying options, there is also the risk of losing one's entire investment in any individual trade. In any option buying approach, it is expected that losing trades will be more numerous than winning trades. The goal is for the average gain to be significantly greater than the average loss so that the bottom line is profitable. Prior to purchase, ensure that you have a broker that allows the trading of options and that you are approved to trade options.