Fourth quarter GDP came in at an annualized growth rate of 2.8%, but analysts were expecting 3.2%, so that set the markets off into negative territory from the beginning today. SPX spent most of the day in the red and then made a run upward during the last hour, but could not hold a positive gain for the day. SPX closed down $2 at $1316 and RUT closed up $6 at $799. Trading volume was down with 3.0 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks changing hands. Trading volume was down 6% on the NYSE and was down 14% on NASDAQ.

The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey reported a value of 75.0 for January, up modestly from December's 74.0.

My Feb iron condor on RUT stands at a P/L of +$1600 with delta = -$98 and theta = +$110. RUT's relative strength versus SPX is a bullish sign for this market, but not so good for our Feb 840/850 call spreads. As of the close today, we could have closed our call spreads for a small gain or break-even and the delta of the 840 calls is only 12, so this position is still pretty solid. Many analysts expect the last couple of days of January trading to be bullish due to institutional buying - we'll see what Monday brings.

Have a great weekend.