Good afternoon and welcome to Markets Desk, your end-of-week wrap from the floor.
Kevin Warsh is earning his credibility fast. The new Federal Reserve chairman signaled Friday that the central bank still has more work to do on inflation, and the bond market simply nodded along. That kind of trust between a Fed chair and fixed income traders is hard won and rarely immediate — Warsh appears to have it.
That calm in rates is feeding directly into equities. The Cboe Volatility Index, the market's fear gauge, touched a year-to-date low of fourteen point one Friday, its softest reading since January. Stock traders are warming to Warsh's steady hand, and with volatility compressing this sharply, risk appetite across the board is clearly improving.
Meanwhile, in the options pit, Coreweave drew serious attention. The AI infrastructure name saw over one hundred eighty three thousand contracts trade hands Friday, representing roughly eighteen point four million underlying shares — volume running at roughly sixty times normal. That kind of activity suggests institutional players are making a significant directional bet heading into the weekend.
That's the tape. Markets Desk, signing off the floor.
