The volatility of this market can be a bit unnerving. It looked like we were in for a moderate sideways to up day this morning, which was reassuring after Friday's strong push downward. But just after 11 am ET, the bottom fell out and the rest of the day was in negative territory. The Russell 2000 Index (RUT) closed down over $7 at $594, just above support at $588-$590. The S&P 500 (SPX) closed down over $12 at $1067. The SPX broke through its support level at $1075. The next support level is at $1025-$1030. I am not suggesting anyone panic, but you definitely need to be sure you have contingent stop loss orders in place for all of your trades - this is a very volatile, and consequently, a dangerous market. You most likely will be whip sawed out of many trades, but that beats the alternative.

Some of us trade as though we were still in the era of full service brokers and high trading commissions. In that setting, we avoided trading in and out of positions because it eroded our gains quickly. Today's environment of online trading and discount brokers makes it very feasible to be stopped out of trades, reconsider the situation the next day, and re-establish the position with minimal cost.

My Nov iron condor on RUT stands at a P/L of +$2,340, position delta = +$33, and position theta = +$79.

Do you enjoy the thrill of the roller coaster? Follow your system and be diligent with your risk management and you will take much of the emotion out of this roller coaster ride.