The markets traded downward until late morning and then began a gradual climb upward for the balance of the day. The SPX bounced up against resistance at $1300 right before the close and pulled back to close at $1298, up $4. RUT gained $3 to close at $811. A weak home sales report set a negative mood at the outset this morning. New home sales for February dropped 17% to 250k, down from January's 301k. Analysts were expecting 288k. News that Portugal's parliament had rejected the austerity plans also weighed on the afternoon's trading.Traders continue to be concerned about the global economy slowing due to higher oil costs. I think traders are also somewhat reluctant to "go all in" as we anticipate the Fed ending its quantitative easing program. In summary, there are many headwinds for this market that make the likelihood of resuming the strong upward trend less probable. On the other hand, the market has held up rather well in spite of Middle East unrest, a Libyan revolution, natural disasters and fears of a nuclear mishap. This leads me to expect the markets to continue to trade sideways or slightly upward.

My April iron condor on RUT is benefiting from this trading range; it now stands at a P/L of +$1,660, delta = +$14 and theta = +$68. So we will just continue to play what the market gives us. Don't fall asleep.