The markets opened strongly this morning but then proceeded to steadily give it back throughout the day. SPX closed at $1279, up $5 but only $3 off its low for the day. RUT closed up $9 at $795. Trading volume was up strongly from yesterday with 4.3B shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading. Trading was up 52% on the NYSE and trading volume was up 30% on NASDAQ. Options expiration probably drove most of this volume. SPX Mar options settled at $1287.71 and RUT settled at $793.28. Today's candlestick on SPX was the classic shooting star; when the bulls cannot hold the highs, it isn't a good sign.

All of the spreads of my Mar iron condor at 730/740 and 875/885 expired worthless today for the maximum gain of $4,160 or 24% on capital at risk. The Apr condor stands at a P/L of +$700 with a position delta of +$39 and theta = +$59.

Enjoy your weekend!