For the second month in succession, the jobs report came in much weaker than expected with only eighty thousand new jobs. The unemployment rate stayed constant at 8.2%. The markets traded off in response with SPX losing $13 to close at $1355. RUT dropped $10 to close at $807. Trading volume continued low, probably a result of the holiday week. Trading in the S&P 500 stocks came in at 2.1 billion shares, well below the 50 dma at 2.8B. Trading volume dropped 12% on the NYSE and rose 2% on NASDAQ. 

SPX traded down as low as $1348, but recovered somewhat in late afternoon trading. SPX traded in the range of about $1310 to $1360 through most of June, and it appears the index is now back in that trading range. SPX managed to punch through resistance at $1370 before the holiday, but could not hold it. RUT's pattern is somewhat different. RUT spent most of June in the range of $735 to $785, but broke out much more strongly than SPX and appeared to even threaten to break the highs around $825 set in late April. So RUT remains in thin air even after today's pull back. Will RUT's new trading range be $725 to $825? I am focusing on these support and resistance levels because it isn't clear if this brief bullish run of the past several trading sessions is over or not. Some are even predicting a bearish push to much lower levels. Don't forget the Goldman Sachs call for $1285. I am inclined to think a choppy sideways trading range is the most likely result of the current mix of tepid economic data with underlying recessionary fears.

My July RUT iron condor stands at a P/L of +$2,220 with delta = -$49 and theta = +$81. Since there is so much less time remaining in the July position, today's pull back helped a lot. The call spreads are now about one and a half standard deviations OTM. The August condor stands at a P/L of -$1,180 with delta = -$98 and theta = +$84. I hedged this position before the holiday, but removed that hedge this afternoon. But this condor is far from out of danger. The Aug 850 calls still have a delta just under twenty.

Enjoy your weekend.