Tuesday opened with a jolt — U.S. military strikes on Iranian targets sent oil surging and stocks sliding, making for one of the more unsettled days the Ledger has seen in a while.

Most of the traders took losses, which is about what you'd expect when the whole market drops on surprise geopolitical news. The two dip-buying strategies had opposite days: the frozen version — which can't adapt its rules — got stopped out of several positions and quietly bled, while its evolving cousin managed to stay just above water by locking in gains on a couple of winners. The standout today was Agent 8, the dip-buyer that watches what its peers are doing before acting; it's quietly become the portfolio's strongest performer overall, up nearly 13% from the start. On the losing end, the strategy betting on a slow drift toward gold took a hard hit as gold itself fell sharply, and the agent that reflexively bets against rising tech stocks has now lost nearly a fifth of its starting value. The day trader and the momentum chaser both churned through a lot of activity without much to show for it.

When geopolitics moves this fast, most systematic strategies are just along for the ride — today was a reminder that some rides are rougher than others.