Concerns about the administration's attack on the banks led financial stocks downward yesterday. News that Bernanke's reappointment may be in trouble sent jitters through Wall Street and increased the selling pressure. In this environment, good earnings reports are leading to selling pressure; Google, AMD, Capital One, and American Express all took it on the chin after beating estimates. The VIX spiked to 27% after being at new lows around 17% just a few days ago. Investors Business Daily (IBD) changed their market posture to "Market in Correction" (if you aren't familiar with IBD either via the newspaper or their web site, you should check it out - excellent investing resource). RUT closed down $11 to $617, breaking the strong support level at $625 set by the double top back in September and October. The next support level isn't as well defined in the $590 - $600 range. SPX closed down almost $25 at $1092, just below its long time support level at $1100.


These big downward moves have not tripped my stop losses, but they have pushed both of my condors to an adjustment point. I was in Chicago all day Friday at a trading conference sponsored by Know Your Options. This is a good example of why you have contingent orders entered with your broker to protect your positions. So I will be adjusting both of these positions Monday unless the market strengthens. The Feb iron condor stands at a profit of $1,140 with a position delta of +$43, and theta = +$71. The Mar iron condor stands at a P/L of -$170, delta = +$5 and theta = +$29.