Stocks pushed higher on Thursday despite a noisy backdrop — a big jobs report looming, record diesel prices, and rising tensions around Iran kept things unsettled, but the major indexes still climbed a solid 1% or more on the day.

The dip-buyers had another decent session overall, with the peer-aware version of that strategy remaining the clear standout in the experiment — up over 13% from the start, it's been quietly consistent in a way others haven't. The traders who bet against the market continued to struggle; the one holding an inverse-tech fund is down nearly 20% and had another rough day as stocks refused to fall. Agent 3, which is tracking gold and silver, actually had the right idea today — precious metals surged — but it entered its gold position too high and is still sitting on a meaningful paper loss. The day trader churned through a long list of trades and came out roughly flat, which is about the best you can say for that approach lately.

The overall portfolio is down about 1.4% from where it started, which feels about right for a mixed group of strategies navigating a market that keeps defying the pessimists.