The S&P 500 couldn't hold above the $1200 resistance level, but it didn't falter badly. SPX closed at $1193, down $12 for the day, but it closed well above its low of the day at $1181. RUT closed at $705, down $14. Trading volume was down on the NYSE by 6% and was down 7% on NASDAQ, but trading of the S&P 500 stocks was flat at 3.4 billion shares, right at the 50 dma. Economic data started the market off on the wrong foot this morning. The annualized rate of housing starts dropped to 604 thousand for July, down from 613k. Similarly, building permits dropped to an annualized rate of 597k. However, industrial production rose 0.9% in July and capacity utilization rose to 77.5% in July from 76.9% in June.

The fact that the SPX traded as low as yesterday's opening, but could not hold those lows was a good sign today. It may not be a bullish sign, but it may be a sign of a base-building pattern. That certainly beats beginning a downward trend. The VIX popped back up a bit today to 33%, reflecting continued trader anxiety - not too surprising. We certainly have a long list of sovereign debt  issues with very little hope that anyone in any of the affected governments have the courage to deal with the issues (including here at home).

My Aug condor stands at a P/L of -$956 with delta = -$42 and theta = +$742 on 20 contracts. The call spreads are about two standard deviations OTM and the put spreads are over five standard deviations OTM. The Sept condor on RUT stands at a P/L of +$720 with delta = -$39 and theta = +$154 (also 20 contracts).