The markets staged another strong rally today. SPX traded upward by $15 to close at $1178 and RUT closed at $693, up $10. The only economic news was the durable orders report, up 4% in July, a big improvement from June's 1.3% decline. However, I don't think that sparked the rally; it appears the market is convinced Bernanke will announce something Friday that will be bullish for equities. Trading volume in the S&P 500 came in at 3.6 billion shares, just above the 50 dma at 3.5 billion. Trading was down 8% on the NYSE and was down 13% on NASDAQ. I'm not sure what became of all of the panic over Europe and the double dip? It could come back with a vengeance depending on even slight nuances from Bernanke on Friday. Stay alert.

My Sept iron condor on RUT stands at a P/L of +$600 with position delta on 20 contracts of +$12 and theta = +$122. How did your portfolio fare during this extreme bout of market volatility in August? My Flying With The Condor™service is up 24% for the year. One of my clients sent me this email today, "Thanks again for saving my butt through this latest downturn. I was amazed at how well the adjustments worked. Very little damage in my accounts".

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