Disappointing economic data sent the markets lower this morning. The major indexes recovered some of the losses before closing down for the day. SPX traded as low as $1341 before closing at $1347, down $9 on the day. RUT was once again weaker than the broad large cap indexes, losing $11 to close at $833. Trading volume was flat to down with 3.4 billion shares of the S&P 500 trading, down from yesterday and just above the 50 dma at 3.3B shares. Trading was up 5% on the NYSE and unchanged on NASDAQ.

The news of Portugal's bail-out took European markets down this morning and that might have set the tone for the opening of the US markets. But the economic data here didn't help. ADP reported 179 thousand new private payroll jobs, but analysts were expecting 200k. And the ISM services index dropped to 52.8 for April from March's 57.3.

Today's move downward took my May iron condor on RUT back to a delta neutral posture with a P/L of +$1,092 and delta = -$5 with theta = +$51. My RUT condor for June stands at a P/L of +$536 with delta = -$48 and theta = +$65. The market's recent weakness doesn't appear to have an obvious cause and effect. Perhaps the long awaited reaction to the end of the Fed's quantitative easing program is beginning?

It is fascinating to compare my directional trading portfolios to my delta neutral trading portfolios. When the market is trending strongly, the directional portfolio does well and the delta neutral trades struggle to minimize their losses. And now my directional trades are struggling and my delta neutral trades are flourishing. It makes a good case for diversifying your strategies.