The incessant drumbeat of Armageddon and global financial disaster appeared to finally start to weigh on the market today. SPX dropped off $14 to close at $1676 and RUT closed down $12 at $1066. Trading volume dropped off again today with 1.7 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading. Trading volume was flat on the NYSE and decreased 6% on NASDAQ. Volatility spiked up nearly three points with VIX closing at 19.4%.

From a technical standpoint, SPX has now broken through support at the 50 dma. RUT traded down very close to the support level around $1065. So far, the markets have held up rather well, but the spike in volatility today is worrisome.

My October condor consists only of the RUT 1110/1120 and 1130/1140 call spreads at this point and each day brings more gains via time decay; we now stand at a gain of 4.2% and the delta of the 1110 calls is 8, so the position is very safe; the maximum potential gain is 8.4%.

Be sure to hedge your positions. October is historically a dangerous month and Washington is adding to that danger.