The markets rallied today, on a day that should have been a bit subdued as we look forward to the FOMC meeting Tuesday and Wednesday. The general consensus was that it was a relief rally due to Larry Summers withdrawing his name for nomination as the next FOMC chairman. That seems like an over-reaction to me, but I suppose the street prefers the more predictable Fed under the leadership of Yellin, since she would be expected to smoothly transition from Bernanke's policies. In the meantime, Obama emphasized his intransigence in negotiating over the debt ceiling and spending, so the FOMC chair is the least of our problems in Washington.

SPX gained $10 to close at $1698 and RUT gained $2 to close at $1056. On a percentage basis, RUT's gain was much less than that of its big brother, SPX. Does that signal a slowing of the markets, or is it just noise? The candlestick on RUT today appears to be a shooting star, as RUT traded as high as $1065 before pulling back to close at $1056. The shooting star may signal the top of a bullish trend, but it requires confirmation; it is often a false signal.

Trading volume increased today with 1.98 billion shares of the S&P 500 trading. Trading on the NYSE increased 15% and trading on NASDAQ increased 5%.

The Empire Manufacturing Survey decreased to 6.3 for September, down from the previous 8.2. Industrial production increased slightly to +0.4% from flat last month. Capacity utilization also bumped up slightly to 77.8% from 77.6%.

My September iron condor on RUT continues to cruise along toward its maximum gain with a current P/L of +$2,557 with delta = -$1 and theta = +$6. I would expect tomorrow to be a slow day in the markets as we anticipate the Fed announcement Wednesday - but that is what I expected for today...