Markets opened weakly this morning and it didn't get any better as the day wore on. SPX lost $14 to close at $2079. RUT dropped $7 to $1254. And volatility moved up a point with the VIX at 15.3%. Trading volume fell off across the board with 1.8 billion shares of the S&P 500 companies trading. Trading volume dropped 10% on the NYSE and decreased 8% on NASDAQ.

So we have a lot of red ink, but with decreased trading volume. I would argue this is just evidence of a continued lack of enthusiasm. The bulls can't get a breakout going, but even the little pull backs don't show the volume one would expect if traders were really taking significant amounts of capital off the table. So it appears we remain stuck in the trading channel of the past two to three months. Conservative traders are watching for signs of support on the major indexes. If you are aggressive, this may be a buying opportunity for your favorite stocks.