The markets bounced back upward strongly today and it was hard to say why. Many analysts pointed to the earnings announcements from Best Buy, TJ Maxx, and other retailers, but closer analysis reveals a mixed bag. Actually, this is becoming a common theme for this market: big moves up or down with the market analysts struggling to understand the drivers. SPX closed up $6 at $1652 and RUT soared $15 to close at $1029. However, it is interesting that volatility did not decrease by any meaningful amount. VIX closed at 14.9%, down only two tenths of a point. Hmmm...

SPX tried to move back above the 50 dma at $1658, but failed to hold it. By contrast, RUT blew through the 50 dma at $1020, closing well above at $1029. This strong performance by RUT would seem to be a bullish sign, but I'm not sure any of our conventional wisdom holds in this market.

Trading volume was pretty flat with 1.9 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading, up from yesterday's 1.8B but well below the 50 dma. Trading volume on the NYSE dropped 0.2% and trading volume on NASDAQ decreased by 9%.

I have resisted adding any new positions this week because of the release of the minutes from the last FOMC meeting tomorrow afternoon. It should be a "yawn", but who knows with this market? Everyone is trying their best to read the tea leaves and that often leads to imagined boogeymen.

My Sept iron condor on RUT stands at a net gain of 8% with position delta = +$17 and position theta = +$89. Now we wait on the market's reaction to the Fed minutes...