The markets opened in the red this morning based on weak unemployment and housing numbers, but a surprise from the Philadelphia Fed turned the markets around. And, surprisingly, there wasn't any last hour sell-off. SPX closed up $8 at $1243 and RUT also gained $8 to close at $777. Trading volume was flat with the S&P 500 stocks trading at the 50 dma; trading on the NYSE dropped 5% and trading volume dropped 7% on NASDAQ. Initial unemployment claims were essentially flat at 420k (423k last week) and continuing unemployment claims rose by 22k to 4.1 million. Housing starts were reported at 555k, up from last month's 534k, but building permits dropped to 530k from 552k. This data wasn't very encouraging but the Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook Survey surprised analysts and buoyed the street. The December survey came in at 24.3, up from 22.5.

I was unable to get the price I wanted to establish my new Jan SPX put spreads so my Jan SPX condor remains unbalanced with only the 1300/1310 call spreads. Have the markets entered "holiday mode" yet? Largely sideways trading, low trading volume, and low volatility are the characteristics to watch for. The bigger question may be whether 2011 will be as bullish as many are predicting.