The S&P 500 Index is coming very close to breaking out and setting a new all-time high. SPX gapped upward at the open this morning and traded as high as $1851 before pulling back to close at $1848, up $10. The previous closing high is $1848 from December 31. RUT gained $8 to close at $1171, a new all-time high. Volatility remained unchanged with VIX at 12.3%. Trading volume rose with 2.6 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks changing hands. Trading volume increased 13% on the NYSE and increased 4% on NASDAQ.

The Beige Book, the minutes from the last FOMC meeting, was released today and appeared to fuel the market's advances. More Fed districts reported moderate economic growth in November and December than previously reported. Plus, eight out of the twelve districts reported higher hiring rates. The Empire State manufacturing report jumped to 12.2 in January from December's 2.2. PPI increased 0.4% in December and increased 1.2% for the entire year of 2013.

This market's strength continues unabated. One can argue all day long that the underlying economic numbers don't support such exuberance, but one has to trade what he sees, not what he thinks makes sense. Today's increase on RUT makes it virtually certain that the put spreads from my January condor will expire worthless. Unfortunately, that starts the new year with a loss of $1,100 on 20 contracts. or -9.6%. The original iron condor was adjusted twice and both spreads were rolled higher. If I had not closed the call spreads Friday, I could have closed on Monday for a small gain, but that's the old 20:20 hindsight thing.