Tapeboard Blog — daily market pulse & trade breakdowns
Daily US market recaps, weekly and monthly reviews, and notes on building a professional-grade terminal for retail traders. Written from the tape, not the press release. The Tapeboard morning edition collects the day's movers, halts and filings, one issue per trading day.
Stock Market Today: October 23, 2026 — Tech Lag as Energy Leads
The Dow fell 1.23% to 52,215.16 while the Nasdaq slipped 0.21% to 25,955.34 as energy stocks led sector gains and Robert Half surged 21.74% to 45.87.
-
Trading Halts Today: October 23, 2026 — 71 Stocks Halted (LULD & T1)
Tapeboard tracked 71 trading halts on October 23, 2026 — 53 LULD/volatility halts, 13 T1 news-pending halts, and 5 other regulatory halts — with CATX among the session's most notable names.
-
Stock Market This Week (October 19–23, 2026): Dow Leads as Tech Wobbles
US equities ended the week ending October 23, 2026 mixed as the Dow Jones rose 0.41% to 52215.16 while the S&P 500 fell 0.47% to 7623.68 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.71% to 25955.34, with small-caps outperforming and sector rotation favoring Energy, Health Care, and Real Estate over Communication Services and Industrials.
-
Stock Market Today: October 22, 2026 — Nasdaq Sinks 2.6% as Tech Leads Retreat
The Nasdaq Composite fell 2.60% to 26,008.86 on October 22, 2026, led by losses in Technology and Communication Services while staples and utilities gained.
-
Trading Halts Today: October 22, 2026 — 49 Stocks Halted (LULD & T1)
Tapeboard tracked 49 trading halts on October 22, 2026: 41 LULD/volatility halts, 4 T1 news-pending halts, and 4 other regulatory halts, led by TANH with multiple Limit Up-Limit Down pauses.
-
Stock Market Today: October 21, 2026 — Health Care Leads Broad Index Gains
US stocks closed higher on October 21, 2026, with the S&P 500 up 0.58% at 7757.17, the Nasdaq up 1.05% at 26702.86, and the Dow up 0.69% at 52856.09, led by a 1.87% gain in health care.
-
Trading Halts Today: October 21, 2026 — 37 Stocks Halted (LULD & T1)
Tapeboard tracked 37 trading halts on October 21, 2026 — 29 LULD/volatility halts, 3 T1 news-pending halts, and 5 other regulatory halts — with POM repeatedly triggering a circuit breaker throughout the session.
-
What is a Buy-Write? Definition, Formula, and Example
A buy-write is an options strategy in which a trader buys shares of stock and simultaneously sells call options against those shares to collect premium.
-
What is a Commodity Super Cycle? Definition, Formula, and Example
A commodity super cycle is a prolonged period of rising real commodity prices driven by structural demand growth and chronic underinvestment in supply.
-
What is a Credit Spread Option Strategy? Definition, Formula, and Example
A credit spread is an options strategy in which a trader sells one option and buys another option of the same type and expiration to collect a net premium while capping maximum loss.
-
What is the ADX Indicator? Definition, Formula, and Example
The Average Directional Index (ADX) measures trend strength on a scale of 0 to 100 without indicating direction.
-
Stock Market Today: October 20, 2026 — Dow Leads, Small Caps Jump
The Dow Jones closed up 1.02% at 52495.88 while the Nasdaq slipped 0.02% to 26424.82, led by a 1.65% Russell 2000 gain and double-digit moves in small-cap gainers.
-
Trading Halts Today: October 20, 2026 — 36 Stocks Halted (LULD & T1)
Tapeboard tracked 36 trading halts on October 20, 2026 — 33 LULD/volatility halts, 2 T1 news-pending halts, and 1 other regulatory halt — led by a T3 volatility pause on BRZE.
-
What is Implied Volatility Rank? Definition, Formula, and Example
Implied volatility rank compares an option's current implied volatility to its 52-week high and low, expressed as a percentile from 0 to 100.
-
What is the Gap Between the 200-Day and 50-Day Moving Average? Definition, Formula, and Example
The gap between the 200-day and 50-day moving average is the percentage difference between those two trend lines, used to measure how far price has extended from its long-term trend.
-
Stock Market Today: October 19, 2026 — IRON Leads Small-Cap Surge as Tech Drains
The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.11% to 26,430.89 while the S&P 500 gained 0.41% to 7,690.73 and the Dow slipped 0.07% to 51,966.03, with IRON gaining 38.86% as the day's top gainer and Communication Services dropping 2.09% as the weakest sector.
-
Trading Halts Today: October 19, 2026 — 50 Stocks Halted (LULD & T1)
Tapeboard tracked 50 trading halts on October 19, 2026: 42 LULD/volatility halts, 3 T1 news-pending halts, and 5 other regulatory halts. The most notable halt was MBRX, a T1 news-pending halt that remained pending at session close.
-
What is a Strike Price? Definition, Formula, and Example
A strike price is the fixed price at which an option holder can buy (call) or sell (put) the underlying asset, and it determines whether the option has intrinsic value at expiration.
-
What is After-Hours Trading? Definition, Formula, and Example
After-hours trading is the buying and selling of U.S. stocks after the 4:00 p.m. ET close, usually running until 8:00 p.m. ET, on electronic venues with thinner liquidity and wider spreads than the regular session.
-
What is an Evening Star Pattern? Definition, Formula, and Example
An evening star is a three-candle bearish reversal pattern formed by a large bullish candle, a small-bodied candle that gaps or stalls above it, and a large bearish candle that closes deep into the first candle's body.
-
What is Extrinsic Value? Definition, Formula, and Example
Extrinsic value is the portion of an option's premium above its intrinsic value, representing the price of time remaining until expiration and of implied volatility.
-
What is Rule 144? Definition, Formula, and Example
Rule 144 is the SEC safe harbor that lets holders of restricted and control securities resell them publicly once they meet holding-period, volume, manner-of-sale, public-information, and Form 144 notice conditions.
-
What is the Calmar Ratio? Definition, Formula, and Example
The Calmar ratio divides a strategy's compound annual return by its maximum drawdown, usually over a trailing 36 months, which measures how much return the strategy earned per unit of worst-case loss.
-
What is the Forward P/E Ratio? Definition, Formula, and Example
The forward P/E ratio is a valuation multiple equal to a stock's current share price divided by the consensus estimate of its earnings per share over the next twelve months or next fiscal year.
-
What is the Price-to-Book Ratio? Definition, Formula, and Example
The price-to-book ratio (P/B) divides a company's share price by its book value per share, which shows how many dollars the market pays for each dollar of net assets on the balance sheet.