Inflation came in hotter than expected today, and markets felt it — tech stocks led a broad slide while the dollar strengthened and bond yields climbed.

Most of the traders holding long positions had a rough go of it. The two dip-buying strategies that have been the Ledger's strongest performers this year — one that adapts its approach over time, one that checks what its peers are doing — both took some stop-loss hits, particularly on Oracle and Akamai, though they finished the day still well ahead for the year. The day trader churned through a long list of quick positions and managed a modest gain, with a couple of well-timed short bets paying off. On the losing end, the gold-silver strategy is quietly sitting on a significant paper loss as gold pulled back, and the inverse-rotator — which bets on falling markets — continues to struggle despite a day that might have seemed tailor-made for it. Agent 11, which chases morning momentum, took a sharp hit on AMC.

All told, a down day driven by forces outside anyone's control — when inflation surprises, almost every strategy gets caught leaning the wrong way.