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The jobs report this morning was the perfect message for this market. The bulls went on a buying spree that has been unmatched recently. SPX gained $19 to close at $1345, near the July high of $1353 and near the 2011 high of $1364. RUT gapped open and tacked on a strong $18 to close at $831. Trading volume was also very strong with 3.3 billion shares of the S&P 500 trading today; volume gained 13% on the NYSE and was up 12% on NASDAQ.
The jobs report came in with an increase of 243k jobs and unemployment dropped to 8.3%. The ISM Services Index came in at 56.8 for January, up from 53.0. VIX dropped almost a full percentage point to 17.1% today; I was a little surprised it didn't drop more, given the strength of this rally.
So I guess we can officially declare the European debt crisis solved, at least so far as this market is concerned. Some analysts believe that today's spike is due to many money managers who have been sitting on large amounts of cash deciding they were being left behind after the January rally. If that is the case, a severe correction may be around the corner - it seems the market has a knack for confounding our best efforts to "get on the band wagon". So while you are enjoying the bullish trades, keep a tight stop engaged.
This bullish run forced me to hedge both of my condor positions yesterday, with $830 Mar calls for the Feb condor and the Apr $860 calls for the Mar condor. Today I closed the Mar 840/850 calls and rolled up to 850/860. The Feb RUT condor stands at a P/L of -$1,540 with delta = -$83 and theta = +$123. My Mar RUT iron condor stands at a P/L of -$2,000 with delta = -$46 and theta = +$44.
Have great weekend.
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Traders appeared to be encouraged by Portugal's bond auction and opened trading this morning in the black and held that strong bias throughout the trading session. SPX bounced up against $1330 but could not break through this resistance level. SPX closed at $1324, up $12 and RUT tacked on a huge $17 to close at $810. This bullishness was a little surprising in view of the economic data out today. The ADP employment report came out with 170 thousand new jobs, but the analysts had predicted 200k. That causes some concerns about Friday's jobs report. The ISM Index came in at 54.1 for January, up slightly from 53.1 and construction spending increased 1.5% in December. These reports aren't negative, but they certainly aren't consistent with today's bullish run either.
Trading volume in the S&P 500 was up at 3.3 billion shares, but was down 3% on the NYSE. Trading volume was up 20% on NASDAQ. The VIX dropped almost one percentage point to 18.6%.
My Feb iron condor on RUT stands at a P/L of +$780 with delta = -$141 and theta = +$200. The 840 call delta is now up to 15. Senility apparently struck yesterday when I suggested applying the Two Sigma Rule on Friday to close the call spreads - I gave away a week somewhere! My Mar RUT iron condor spread stands at a P/L of -$540 with delta = -$72 and theta = +$88. Can the market stay motivated to continue this drive higher?
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The S&P futures were in the red this morning based on the same old European debt problems - and throw Greece's bond negotiations in for good measure. SPX opened and dropped to $1300 by mid-morning. But then it stabilized and traders started buying, steadily pulling the markets up to minimal losses for the day. SPX closed down $3 at $1313 and RUT closed down $6 at $792. The VIX spiked up in the morning, but dropped back to close at 19.4%, up less than a percentage point. Trading volume in the S&P 500 fell off to 2.6 billion shares, well below the 50 dma at 2.9B.
Personal Income was reported as rising 0.5% in December, a big improvement over the previous month's 0.1% increase. But personal spending was flat in December. We will get the Chicago PMI and the Case Schiller housing price index tomorrow; those numbers could be market-moving, but at this point it is hard to imagine much movement either way. The balancing act between the bulls and the bears is pretty close to even, but slightly tilted in favor of the bulls. It seems that when either group gets the upper hand, the buying or selling sets in to pull the market back. SPX has managed to stay above $1310 for eight sessions now, but has only closed above $1320 once. And note how the trading volume has steadily fallen off since SPX broke $1330 as the intraday high on Thursday. Stocks are cheap by many measures, but fear stemming out of Europe seems to be holding the market in check.
My Feb RUT condor stands at a P/L of +2,320 with delta = -$63 and theta = +$100. The Mar RUT iron condor stands at a P/L of +$200 with delta = +$200 with delta = -$34 and theta = +$79. This meandering market is good for these trades.
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Many market observers are giddy about the market's positive gains since the first of the year, which I suppose is understandable after the year we had in 2011. But the last several trading sessions are setting up as another range bound trading situation. For the last nine trading days, we have stayed roughly in the range of $1310 to $1330. Note that on several of those days we have spiked down below $1300 and up above $1330 one day, but in every case, the S&P 500 has been pulled back into the range. SPX ranged from $1307 to $1321 today before closing down less than one dollar at $1312. RUT was flat on the day at $793. Trading volume was up today, probably due to end of the month "window dressing". 3.1 billion shares of the S&P 500 traded and trading on the NYSE was up 21%. Trading on NASDAQ was up 6%.
Today's dose of economic data weighed on the market. The Case Schiller Housing Price Index dropped again in November, this time down 3.7%. The Chicago PMI came in at 60.2 for January, down from December's 62.2 and Consumer Confidence also dropped to 61.1 in January from the earlier 64.8. The market is in an interesting place. It appears to be trapped: on the one side we have good corporate earnings and some economic data that isn't worsening and appears to be slowly healing (today's data withstanding). On the other hand, the economic data in the states isn't anything to write home about; our political wrangling and political malfeasance are at all time highs (how is it possible that Congress is actually considering legislation to make it illegal for Congressmen to trade on inside information? How did we get here?); and Europe hovers over everything like a black cloud.
But this ugly picture works well for delta neutral trades. My Feb RUT iron condor stands at a P/L of +$2,520 with delta = -$60 and theta = +$92. The Mar condor stands at a P/L of +$240 with delta = -$39 and theta = +$83. Most likely, we will close the Feb call spreads this Friday (Two Sigma Rule) and allow the put spreads to expire worthless.
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Fourth quarter GDP came in at an annualized growth rate of 2.8%, but analysts were expecting 3.2%, so that set the markets off into negative territory from the beginning today. SPX spent most of the day in the red and then made a run upward during the last hour, but could not hold a positive gain for the day. SPX closed down $2 at $1316 and RUT closed up $6 at $799. Trading volume was down with 3.0 billion shares of the S&P 500 stocks changing hands. Trading volume was down 6% on the NYSE and was down 14% on NASDAQ.
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey reported a value of 75.0 for January, up modestly from December's 74.0.
My Feb iron condor on RUT stands at a P/L of +$1600 with delta = -$98 and theta = +$110. RUT's relative strength versus SPX is a bullish sign for this market, but not so good for our Feb 840/850 call spreads. As of the close today, we could have closed our call spreads for a small gain or break-even and the delta of the 840 calls is only 12, so this position is still pretty solid. Many analysts expect the last couple of days of January trading to be bullish due to institutional buying - we'll see what Monday brings.
Have a great weekend.
