The markets were very choppy today but gradually traded upward, but on flat volume. RUT ran up $7 to close at $663 while the SPX also increased $7 to close at $1127. Trading volume was up 3% on the NYSE and up 1% on NASDAQ. Trading in the S&P 500 stocks came in at 3.3 billion shares, flat from yesterday and below the 50 dma at 4 billion shares. The S&P 500 trading volume 50 dma has dropped from 5 to 4 billion over the past month, reflecting the steady reduction in trading volume.

This is significant because bull markets have traditionally made new highs on increased trading volume. The market highs made over the past month have occurred with steadily decreasing volume. So what does this mean? My crystal ball is a little cloudy, but I think the best interpretation is to look at this market as though it has been trading sideways since the beginning of July rather than increasing. If it had been trading sideways for the past month, we would be expecting it to break out one way or the other, but be unsure of the direction. I think that is precisely where we are; the price increases of the past month are deceptive if you see them as bullish. Tomorrow's unemployment claim data and Friday's unemployment rate report could tip the market either way.

ADP's employment report was a bit of good news with 42k new jobs in July. The ISM Services Index reported out at 54.3, higher than expected by the market and modestly higher than last month. ADP's report has heightened expectations for the unemployment numbers tomorrow and Friday.

My Aug iron condor is being squeezed tighter by these increases in RUT. Today, I closed my 510/520 puts and rolled them up to 590/600. I also bought one Aug $660 call to protect my 680/690 spreads. Both of these moves helped moderate the Greeks: delta = -$66 and theta = +$133. The Sept condor is proceeding well with delta = -$25 and theta = +$60. The next two days should be interesting to see if a trend with volume can develop in either direction or if we will continue to muddle along.