The markets continued to basically tread water today, waiting to see if a new round of easing might come out of the Fed tomorrow. SPX closed down $6 at $1379 and RUT lost $5 to close at $787. Trading volume bounced upward today with 2.7 billion shares of the S&P 500, just under the 50 dma; trading on the NYSE was up 22% and trading volume on the NASDAQ increased 20%.

We had some modestly good economic data today, but no one was listening. The Case Schiller housing price index declined much less in May with a 0.7% decline (it dropped 1.9% in April). The Chicago PMI came in at 53.7 for July, up from last month's 52.9. Consumer confidence also rose to 65.9 in July, up from 62.7.

My Aug condor continues to build gains with a net gain of $2,260 with position delta = -$30 and position theta = +$46 (20 contracts). All eyes will be on the Fed tomorrow, but we may still see some reticence from traders with the jobs report looming Friday.