Just when you think you have the market figured out, it will surprise you. After weak trading for most of the last week, I thought the most likely course would be quiet trading until the FOMC announcement on Wednesday. But the S&P 500 Index (SPX) opened up very bullishly this morning and hit its high for the day about 30 minutes later. It closed the day at $1787, up $11. RUT rallied upward by $13 and closed at $1120. Trading volume bumped upward with 2.2 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading today. Trading on the NYSE increased 4% and trading volume increased 21% on NASDAQ.

It appears that the Fed watchers have decided nothing will be said about starting to reduce the FOMC's stimulus programs on Wednesday and so the buying spree may safely continue. However, it is interesting that the VIX actually moved up a third of a point to 16% today in an up market. So the markets may be trading upward, but many traders are feeling at least a little bit nervous.

The Empire manufacturing survey came in at +1.0 for November, up from the -2.2 report from October. Industrial production increased 1.1% in November and capacity utilization increased to 79% in November from the previous month's 78.2%. All in all, the economic data reported today were pretty good, but not sufficient for this strong market rally. I think market action now is almost always about the Fed.

I only have the RUT Dec 1030/1040 put spreads still open from the Dec condor. I will decide whether to close them on Wednesday before the FOMC announcement. The 1040 options are now four standard deviations OTM, so they are very safe in ordinary times, but with the Fed meeting...?