Today's market wanderings were blamed on Greece (again). The markets were flat with SPX unchanged at $2069. RUT lost $2 to close at $1202. Trading volume was also flat with 2.1 billion shares of the S&P 500 trading. Trading volume declined 2% on the NYSE but was flat on NASDAQ. Volatility came in a bit with the VIX closing at 17.0%, down about three tenths of a point.

There wasn't much in the way of economic data today. Tomorrow brings the unemployment claims and retail sales reports.

If you look at the SPX chart, you will note that the market tried to jump back on the bull bandwagon twice in January and was pushed back at $2065. Yesterday, SPX finally closed above that level, but today SPX dipped as low as $2058 before recovering to close at $2069. Technically, it remains above that resistance level, but I remain to be convinced. The battle between the bulls and bears remains very balanced at this point. It could go either way - or maybe we will just continue to wander sideways as we have for the past two months. It remains a stock picker's market.

My February iron condor on RUT stands at +18%, close to its maximum gains at 19%. I will close this position this week and take the risk off the table. The March condor is down to 36 days to expiration and is up 3% as of today's close.