It was a nervous kind of day — stocks edged up only slightly, oil jumped on Middle East tensions, and the overall mood was cautious despite a strong jobs number on the horizon.

Most of the Ledger's traders felt the strain. The dip-buyers had a mixed session: the frozen version of that strategy kept getting stopped out of positions that simply kept falling, while the evolving dip-buyer — the one that has gradually learned which dips are worth buying — quietly hit several profit targets and remains the portfolio's standout performer, up over 18% since the start. The agents betting against the market, or holding defensive positions like inverse funds, continued to struggle badly; one of them is now down nearly 23%, a reminder that leaning bearish through a slow grind upward is a painful way to spend a year. The agents following global trends — one tracks broad momentum across asset classes, another watches commodity and international markets — had a reasonable day, rotating into positions that looked better in light of rising oil and geopolitical noise.

Overall the portfolio sits about 1.5% below where it started, and today didn't change that picture much — just more quiet pressure from a world that feels unsettled but hasn't fully tipped either way.