Greece's debt problems appeared to be fueling a flight to safety out of competing currencies and to the dollar. The relationship of stronger dollar and weaker stock prices appears to be still holding. However, unemployment claims moved up a bit from last week and that didn't help the mood on Wall Street. RUT traded downward most of the day, but bounced off $600 and closed at $605, a loss of about $7 on the day. The area of $595 to $600 appears to be holding up well. By contrast, the SPX steadily traded down all day and closed down $12 at $1097, near its intraday low of $1096. Trading volume was up significantly, plus we didn't have buyers strongly entering the market late in the day as we have on recent down market days. That could be a warning sign.

This drop in RUT helped both of my Jan iron condors. The 510/520 and 650/660 condor stands at a P/L of +$1,940 with delta = -$61 and theta = +$114. The 570/580 and 630/640 condor I established a few days ago stands at +$300, delta = -$25 and theta = +$71. Trading the iron condor is emotionally challenging. At times like the past month, it is simply boring, while it can be a roller coaster ride as it was this summer and early fall. You must clearly have your trading rules in mind (preferably written down) and not allow yourself to manufacture new trades when bored or panic when the market moves against you and not make the adjustments in a timely fashion.