The markets appear to be a nearly balanced tug of war these days between the bulls and the bears. The bulls seem to have the edge, but just barely. As oil nearly hit $109/bbl and gold hit a new high at $1467, the markets oscillated sideways and slightly higher. SPX closed up $3 at $1336 while RUT set a new 52 week high at $854, up $1. But SPX has yet to break through its high of $1343 set in February. In fact, the last three trading sessions on SPX have displayed various versions of the doji candlestick - the classic sign of indecision; neither the bulls nor the bears can quite take control.Trading volume continues at fairly muted levels. 3.1 billion shares of the SPX traded today, up a bit from yesterday but still below the 50 dma. Trading volume rose 4% on the NYSE and was up 3% on NASDAQ.

My May iron condor on RUT is cruising along pretty much unchanged with a P/L of -$1,401 and delta = -$2 and theta = +$37. Our adjustments are holding our losses to a reasonable level while we give the market some time to trade sideways or even pull back a bit. The delta of our $890 calls dropped to 26. At times in the market like these, I appreciate my delta neutral positions; I don't find myself worrying about them as much as my directional trades. Unemployment claims will report tomorrow; we'll see if that tips the scale one way or the other.