Markets traded up today, but again, the underlying volume wasn't strong. Advances on weak volume have become the standard for this market. RUT increased $9 to close at $660 while the SPX ran up $6 and closed at $1128. Trading volume declined 20% on the NYSE and declined 17% on NASDAQ. The S&P 500 stocks traded 2.8 billion shares, well below the 50 dma of 4 billion shares. One possible explanation for today's lower volume may have been rooted in traders looking forward to the FOMC announcement tomorrow. But in general, I think the recent low volume patterns of trading reflect traders' lack of conviction concerning the economic recovery.

The call spreads of my Aug iron condor remain uncomfortably close to the index. The short $680 calls have a delta of 23; time is helping since we now only have ten days to expiration. The delta of this position is now -$108, which underscores the price risk of further increases in RUT. Theta is now at +$255, so the theta/delta ratio is still strong. My Sept RUT iron condor at 530/540 and 740/750 is well balanced with a delta of -$13 and theta = +$62.

So now we look forward to the FOMC announcement tomorrow, although it doesn't appear that we can expect any news of much significance. Traders will be examining the statement closely for clues about future economic prospects, but I don't expect much of an effect on the market.