Traders took a break today from worrying about Greece, Spain and the European Union. SPX gained $15 to close at $1332, while RUT gapped up at the open and gained $11 to close at $777. Trading volume jumped up with 2.4 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading; trading on the NYSE increased 19% and volume rose 28% on NASDAQ. However, much of that increase is explained by the low trading volume last Friday before the long holiday weekend. Trading in the S&P 500 remains well below its 50 dma.

The VIX was sounding a cautionary note with only a small drop to 21.1% - traders remain on guard.

A few positive signs have been seen in the real estate market the past few weeks, but the Case Schiller housing price index fell 2.6% in March - a smaller decrease than the previous month, but still the wrong direction. The Conference Board released their consumer confidence figures for May today; they dropped from 68.7 to 64.9 - not a good sign. Many analysts track this number since consumer spending is such a powerful factor in the economy.

Today's strong move upward for RUT pushed my June iron condor at 690/700 and 880/890 close to its maximum gain of $2,640 or 15% with about two weeks to go to expiration.