Some positive economic news out of China boosted Asian markets and that appeared to spread across the globe. It probably also helped that reports from Washington suggest that a compromise solution to avoid a government shutdown is in the works so the debt and spending debate participants can have more time to craft a solution. I think Fed tapering is effectively priced into the markets with all of the debate over the past couple of months, so I don't think that is a significant risk issue at this time. But that leaves Syria. Is Obama willing to forge ahead without support from Congress or the American people? That risk remains, but may be diminished somewhat. SPX spurted ahead $17, broke through its 50 dma at $1667 and closed at $1672. RUT also traded strongly higher, tacking on $17 to close at $1046. RUT opened right at its 50 dma at $1033 and never looked back.

The cautionary note on the day was that volatility remained pretty high in spite of these bullish advances. VIX only decreased about two tenths of point to 15.6%. Everyone isn't totally relaxed and comfortable in trader-land even with a one percent gain on the day.

My iron condor position on RUT for September stands at a net gain of $2,200 or +13% with position delta = +$10 and position theta = +$73. This position is nearly perfectly delta neutral with ten days to go to expiration.

I think the big question, in view of VIX remaining relatively high, is pretty simple: will today's advances hold tomorrow? Maybe Apple's new iPhones will cause an uncontrolled exuberance in the markets, but I doubt it.