The markets opened a bit lower this morning but recovered quickly and closed with modest gains on lower volume. Both the RUT and SPX charts were displaying the classic doji candlestick pattern, indicative of indecision among the traders, i.e., neither the bulls nor the bears were able to take charge and drive the market today. RUT closed up $2 at $628 while the SPX gained $2 to close at $1094. SPX tried unsuccessfully to break through $1100 once again today. If and when SPX closes above $1100, that will be a significant bullish signal. Trading volume was down across the board with a 5% drop on the NYSE and a 4% drop on NASDAQ. The S&P 500 stocks traded 3.2 billion shares, down a bit from yesterday and still well below the 50 dma.

My Aug iron condor on RUT stands at a P/L of +$753 with position delta = +$24 and theta = +$243. All of the spreads in this condor are now greater than two standard deviations OTM so I will probably allow them to expire worthless. But this depends on tomorrow's market movement. Even a small move down will cause me to close the 590/600 put spreads. The Sept position stands at a P/L of +$1,220, delta = +$24, and theta = +$72.