On a Saturday, Trader shows a move since the cash close for the S&P 500 perp and the Nasdaq 100 perp. Those map onto SPY and QQQ. The third index an options trader watches is the Russell 2000, through IWM. Its slot is empty. That is a decision, and the reason is simple.
There is nothing to measure
The implied open is a measurement of a live market. For the two large-cap indexes that market exists: a perp that trades around the clock with real open interest. No liquid perp exists on the Russell 2000 or on IWM. Robinhood’s stock tokens do not include IWM either. With no instrument trading, there is no price, and with no price there is no move to report.
Why not borrow the S&P 500’s move
It is tempting to assume small caps moved the way large caps did. Often they move in the same direction. Often is the problem. Small caps and large caps separate on rates, on credit and on a single mega-cap headline. SPY against IWM shows how differently the two trade even inside one session.
A figure for IWM built from the S&P 500 perp would be a guess wearing the format of a measurement. It would sit in the same row, with the same decimals, as two numbers that were actually read from a market. A reader could not tell the difference. So the slot stays blank.
What you do have for IWM
You have Friday’s dealer map. IWM has listed options, so it has a gamma flip, walls and an expected move as of the close. IWM dealer positioning covers how its map differs from SPY’s. Those levels do not change while the options market is shut.
You also have Russell 2000 futures once they reopen on Sunday evening. That is the first live price on small caps after the weekend. Until then there is none. The overnight futures session is where an IWM trader’s week starts.
What the mega-cap perps add, and do not
The seven largest index names each have a perp, and their weekend moves are shown. All seven are large caps. None is in the Russell 2000. If one of them is carrying the S&P 500 perp on its own, that is a reason to doubt the move reaches small caps at all. It is a reason for doubt and never a number for IWM.
The rule behind the blank
The same rule appears elsewhere in the measure. If an index perp has no print at the bell, there is no figure for that index either. A blank says nothing was measured. On IWM that will stay true until a liquid small-cap perp exists to read. Trader keeps IWM’s dealer map in full all week, and leaves its weekend move empty.