Real time stock futures show S&P 500 contracts edging up 0.28% this morning, supported by strong US retail sales data. Traders are watching Fed policy signals, as rate cut expectations for Q3 have risen after softer inflation numbers. Tech futures lead gains amid rising semiconductor demand. Interest-rate spreads—the difference between the short-term rates they borrow at and the long-term rates from which they generate income—are already wide, and future interest-rate cuts are likely to help Dynex, too. That’s a bullish enough environment that I want to keep my eye on the company’s next dividend announcement, expected sometime in late October. Driving the stocks higher was Rigetti's announcement that it sold two 9-qubit Novera quantum computing systems for $5.7 million on Tuesday. One system was bought by an Asian technology manufacturing company, Rigetti said, while the other was purchased by a California-based applied physics and artificial intelligence startup. US market open indicators show Dow real time stock futures holding steady around the zero-line, as traders digest mixed economic signals. Currency market shifts are also influencing export-oriented blue chips.