Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day

Options expiry, Xi and Putin, and some mixed Fed messages.

With August shaping up to be the calmest month this year for US stocks, traders are closely watching Friday’s options expiration for hints whether the tranquility will last. About $2 trillion of contracts are set to expire, obliging holders to either roll over existing positions or start new ones. Stocks have restored roughly $7 trillion in value since mid-June, as what began as a short squeeze cascaded into a buying spree by those who exited equities during the first-half carnage amid fears that the Fed’s aggressive inflation-fighting campaign could tip the economy into a recession. Shares have since recovered somewhat as data showed a robust labor market and cooler-than-expected inflation.