All of the major indexes were down or flat today. Two stand-out exceptions were the Russell 2000 (RUT) and the NASDAQ. The Standard and Poors 500 (SPX) index closed down $2 at $1223. SPX has been unable to break through the highs set earlier this year. By contrast, RUT continues to set new highs; it closed at $761, up $4. Trading volume was down across the board with 2.7 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading; volume was down 9% on the NYSE and down 11% on NASDAQ. The dollar traded higher today and that tends to hold equities down. Some traders are waiting for resolution of the tax rate questions in D.C. Declining volume may also be indicative of traders beginning to back off for the holidays, although it seems a little early for that.

My Dec iron condor on RUT stands at a $2,040 gain with delta = -$88 and theta = +$172. The 790/800 calls are still pretty far OTM, but RUT keeping on climbing. The Jan iron condor on SPX stands at a P/L of -$979 with delta = -$78 and theta = +$80. The theta/delta ratio of approximately one-to-one tells us this position is on the verge of requiring adjustment or re-positioning. No significant economic reports are due until Thursday, so I don't expect much market movement for a couple of days. But who knows what global events might trip this market one way or the other? Will resolution of the tax hike questions from D.C. be a "sell the news" event or fuel for a rally (assuming tax rates stay low)? So the market moving news for the next few days may be out of Washington.