The markets appeared encouraged initially this morning after seeing that the report of initial unemployment claims wasn't as high as expected (came in at 473k, down from last week's 504k). But that didn't last. The Federal Reserve bank at Kansas City reported stalled manufacturing activity in their district. Whether it was that news or just continued double dip fears, the markets traded off the rest of the day, closing near the day's lows. The SPX closed at $1047, down $8, while RUT traded down $5 to $600. Trading volume also declined 20% on the NYSE and dropped 10% on NASDAQ. Trading in the S&P 500 stocks declined to 3.3 billion shares. Both RUT and SPX appear to be building strong support levels, but it would be premature to take this as bullish. The double dip could still be lurking out there.

My Sept condor stands at a P/L of +$490, position delta = +$54 and position theta = +$102; the freshly minted Oct position stands at a P/L of -$460, delta = -$17 and theta = +$84. The theta/delta ratios of both positions are strong and both positions have ample safety margin at this point.

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