The markets opened higher this morning and just marched even higher as the day progressed. Most of the major market averages closed near their highs for the day. SPX ran up $21 to close at $1391. RUT closed at $811 for a gain of $13. Trading volume fell off a bit with 2.5 billion shares of the S&P 500 trading. Trading volume fell 4% on the NYSE and dropped 3% on NASDAQ.

SPX closed above resistance at $1390, but just barely. We will have to see it hold that high tomorrow. The next level to watch is $1420, the recent high for the year. If we break through $1420, then this bull market is back on with strength. More likely would be a consolidating trading range between $1390 and $1420.

Housing starts dropped by 40k in March to 654k, but building permits increased 32k to 747k. Industrial production was flat in March and capacity utilization was also flat at 78.6%. This data isn't bad, but you wouldn't think it would prompt a rally as strong as what we saw today either. This market reminds me of the volatility we observed last fall, where the market would drop dramatically one day and then swing back just as far to the up side the next day. This kind of volatility can be somewhat unnerving. As some of the commercials assert, "This isn't your father's market".

My May iron condor on RUT stands at a P/L of -$400, with a position delta = +$28 and position theta = +$87. The April condor will be allowed to expire worthless this weekend.