The ECB president, Mario Draghi, committed to doing whatever was necessary to preserve the Euro, and that buoyed the markets significantly. Every major index finished the day higher. SPX gained $22 to close at $1360 and RUT closed at $777, up $8. Trading volume was up with 3.2 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks trading today (the 50 dma = 2.8B). Trading on the NYSE increased 14% and volume jumped 10% on NASDAQ. VIX dropped almost two points to 17.5%. 

I find it fascinating how what may well be hollow promises can move a market this much. I think Europe is a long ways from solving their debt issues, but maybe I'm just a cranky old fart. My wife assures me I am, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong.

New unemployment claims dropped 35k to 353k and continuing claims reported at 3.3 million, down 30k. Durable orders increased 1.6% for June (flat from May), while pending home sales dropped 1.4% in June. All in all, not terrible data. This data doesn't support the excessive gloom and doom heard earlier this week, but we aren't out of the woods either.

My Aug iron condor on RUT at 650/660 and 850/860 stands at +$2,360 with delta = -$2 and theta = +$31. Will this rally continue tomorrow or will another news item take us down? The only predictable aspect of this market is volatility; maybe that is the new normal due to high frequency trading?