The markets seem to be slogging through molasses with small price moves, low trading volume, and declining implied volatility. SPX closed down $3 to $2031 while RUT lost one dollar to close at $1163. Volatility remains relatively low at 15.8%. Trading volume is sluggish with 2.1 billion shares of the S&P 500 trading today (flat with yesterday and below the 50 dma). Trading volume declined 1% on the NYSE and rose 6% on NASDAQ.

Housing starts for September came in at 1206 thousand, up from August's 1132 thousand. Building permits were on the opposite side with August's 1161 thousand declining to September's 1103 thousand. But the good news is that these data remain fairly positive for the real estate market with new housing construction running around a million units for 2015.

Earnings announcements continue to elicit strong responses with CMG down about $50 and ISRG up $35 in after hours trading. Playing these announcements is not for the faint of heart. For those of you who love the thrill ride, AMZN announces Thursday after the close.

The bulls appear to be in control of this market now; we are seeing the classic higher highs and higher lows. But trading volume is low and the price moves are limited in either direction. Are we returning to the sideways trend we saw earlier this year? Many of the large institutions have predicted a strong rally for the balance of this year, but we are starting to run out of time.