Wow! The market took off to the races after hearing that the unemployment level was unchanged at 9.7% and 36k jobs were lost in February. I guess the market was expecting really bad news. When one looks at the intraday charts you have to be impressed with the steady rise throughout the day - a very strong showing. I expected to see some profit taking, but it never happened. Trading volume on the NYSE and NASDAQ were both up today, but the S&P 500 continues to trade below its 50 day moving average. The SPX ran up $16 to close at $1139, close to its 52 week high at $1150. But small caps have been even stronger than the blue chips during this bullish surge; RUT convincingly broke through resistance to close at a new 52 week high at $666, a run of nearly $14.

The market bulldozed right through my March and April iron condors. March is shaping up to be my first loss since August. My adjustments on April are holding it in check so far, but I may have to roll some of those call spreads up next week. In fact, this market swing has been even more severe than the one in late July that set up that earlier loss. However, it is naive to think trading doesn't involve losses. Many people are always searching for the guru who never loses. The reality is that many of those gurus don't even trade. Successful traders limit their losses in months like this one to manageable amounts. As long as you don't lose more than you gained last month, you can keep the doors of your business open. Risk management is the name of the game!