The major indexes just wandered sideways today with SPX closing down $1 at $1924 and RUT losing $3 to close at $1126. The VIX rose slightly to close at 11.9%. Trading volume rose from yesterday with 1.7 billion shares of the S&P 500 trading, but this remains well below the 50 dma at 2.1 billion shares. Trading volume rose 12% on the NYSE and increased 3% on NASDAQ.

The only economic data reported today was factory orders, increasing 0.7% in April, but this was down significantly from March's +1.5%.

Both SPX and RUT traded lower intraday, but the bulls reasserted themselves and pulled the indexes back up before the close. SPX traded as low as $1919 before recovering to close at $1924. Similarly, RUT traded down to $1119 before recovering much of that loss, closing at $1126. This was typical of trading on SPX for the past three days and shows that the bulls still control this market. But this could also be the beginning of some sideways consolidation trading. These long lower shadows on SPX are what prompted me to hedge my July call spreads yesterday. That trading pattern often shows bullish strength.

We may see similar sideways trading tomorrow as traders watch for the ECB interest rate announcement Thursday and the jobs report Friday. But so far, all bad news has been successfully explained away by the bulls. We'll see.