SPX opened down this morning and hit a low at $2079. But from about 10 am ET on, SPX steadily climbed higher, closing up $11 at $2102. RUT gained $12 to close at $1225. But trading volume continues to be rather weak with 1.6 billion shares of the S&P 500 trading. Trading volume rose 2% on the NYSE and increased 1% on NASDAQ. We remain solidly trapped in the trading range of the past several months. Volatility remains sorta "luke warm" with the VIX at 13.0%, up two tenths of a point today. This isn't much of a rise in volatility, but it is unusual to see VIX up on a positive day in the markets. Hmmm...

The Empire manufacturing survey (from the New York Fed) surprised analysts, plunging in August to -14.9 from July's +3.9 reading. Several signs of a softening economy are starting to pop up - nothing too severe, but enough to raise my concerns.

My Oct iron condor on RUT still only consists of the put spreads at 1060/1070. My plan was to sell the call spreads when the market cycled back higher, but so far, the market hasn't cooperated. This is an excellent example of the downside of legging into a condor position.

I will now return to treading water.