Our markets opened down this morning, primarily in response to losses in overseas markets, but by about 10:30 am, the markets began a steady climb upward, led by the financials. SPX closed the day at $1293, up $9 while RUT gained $7 to close at $808. The Consumer Sentiment Survey from the University of Michigan reported 72.7 for January, down from December's 74.5 and below expectations. The December Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.5% in December, higher than expected and also in line with the higher than expected PPI earlier this week. These numbers caused some concern about inflation beginning to grow. But while this economic data stoked some anxieties, JPM's earnings report beat expectations and this appeared to energize the markets.

I decided to keep the call spreads of my Jan SPX condor open until after the long weekend to benefit from the additional time decay, but that could be a costly mistake if this bullish run continues Tuesday. The Feb RUT condor is well positioned with P/L of +$680, delta = -$72 and theta = +$101. The trades from my trading group continue to perform well. I closed the NFLX Jan 165/175 call spread today for a 30% gain and our NVDA calls are up over 300%. The trading group track record now stands at +55% since the group started in April last year.

Google a copy of Martin Luther King's "Dream" speech and read it this weekend. I think you will be impressed.

Enjoy the long weekend!