Stocks traded lower again today and it appeared early today that the bears were gaining control of this market, but stocks rebounded this afternoon to erase about half of the losses for the day. SPX closed down $5 at $1364 and RUT gained $1 to close at $804. There wasn't much economic data reported today. Factory orders fell 1% in January and the ISM Services Index came in at 57.3 for February, slightly up from January's 56.8. Trading volume was mixed with 2.5 billion shares of the S&P 500 trading today which was up a bit from Friday. Trading volume on the NYSE was up 1% and volume was down 4% on NASDAQ.

Although many analysts have been expecting a correction after the market's strong run this year, the last few days certainly don't yet qualify. SPX has yet to even threaten its strong support level at $1340. SPX traded down to $1359 this morning but then rebounded to close at $1364. Even though RUT traded down more strongly than SPX on Friday, RUT actually gained a bit today. The $800 level on RUT appeared to offer resistance in late January before it broke out higher; now $800 appears to be offering support. RUT traded down to $796 today before rebounding higher to close at $804.

My Mar condor on RUT stands at a P/L of +$2,830 with position delta = +$4 and position theta = +$176. The put spreads are over two standard deviations OTM and the call spreads are just under two standard deviations OTM. The Apr iron condor on RUT stands at a P/L of +$780 with delta = +$20 and theta = +$50. Both condors are "sitting pretty" at this point, delta neutral and making money. But that can change with a moment's notice.