Heading back up today as the Dow gained 225 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were around 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is still moving lower. The NASDAQ led the way today which is a plus for the bulls. The market did fall in the final hour though and that isn't usually a good thing. I'm not exactly sure what is going on here so we are still on the sidelines for the time being. One of our models showed yesterday as a medium term low for the market with prices rising from here. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are stalling here as they head lower. I'm still considering the SPY November calls at the moment. Gold was up $33 on the futures. The US dollar finished flat and interest rates were higher. The XAU was up 7 points and GDX climbed 2 1/3. Volume was slightly above average. GDX remains short term oversold and we're still on the sidelines when it comes to trading the options in GDX for now. Mentally I feel OK. The VIX was lower today and remains short term oversold. Once again the daily candlestick chart here looks like it wants to go lower but that hasn't worked out recently. When in doubt stay out is usually solid advice in this game. We'll wait for the next decent signal and go from there. Asia lower and Europe higher overnight. We'll keep an eye on this evenings developments.

Moving lower today as the Dow fell 251 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is moving down. The overall market was much weaker than the Dow with the NASDAQ dropping 2% and leading the way. My idea of higher prices and new all time highs has been negated by todays price action. We had a big gap down at the open, tried to rally and then fell down for the rest of the session. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are moving down with plenty of room to go. Getting to mid-range on some. Not sure what to expect next as I do not seem to have a good handle on things at the moment. With the summation index moving down I'd expect lower prices to follow in the near term. I am now looking at the SPY November calls. The US government shutdown continues but that will not last forever. The US Supreme court will meet tomorrow regarding the US tariff legality but a decision won't be coming right away. So there are things in the pipeline that will most likely affect stocks one way or the other. Gold lost $66 today on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates ticked lower. The XAU fell 12 1/2, while GDX lost 3 points. Volume was above average. Money is moving out of the alternative assets such as gold and bitcoin at the moment. Not sure why or where the money is going. GDX closed at a new recent low and remains short term oversold. I'm still considering the November GDX calls but that may not be the best idea right now. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up today and the short trm indicators have turned up. The VIX got above the 20 level during the day. Yesterday the daily candlestick chart here looked like it wanted to go lower but todays action has canceled that. Once again my reading of what's happening is not correct so I will probably have to take a step back for now. Still plenty of time in the November option cycle. Asia and Europe were down overnight with the exception of the FTSE. Perhaps money around the workd knows things that we don't. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Another mixed bag to begin the trading week as the Dow was lower while the NASDAQ and S&P 500 posted gains. The most watched index fell 226 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is still trending lower. The NASDAQ once again was the strongest and that's a plus. The S&P 500 has been going sideways for a week and remains in short term overbought territory. My thought here is that it is consolidating before going on to new all time highs again. I could be wrong. The SPY November option premiums are still pricey so we continue to wait on the next trade. Gold was up $26 on the futures. The US dollar was a bit higher and interest rates finished flat again. The XAU fell 2 1/8 and GDX slid 3/4. Volume was light. GDX remains short term oversold and hanging around its 50 day moving average. Starting to think that maybe the November calls here could be the next trade but we'll see. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was a bit lower today and is still short term oversold. The daily candlestick chart for the VIX appears like it wants to go lower. That would be supportive for stocks. Plenty of earnings to deal with as the US government continues to be on hold. Asia was higher and Europe mixed to start the week. I'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.

Up, down, all around today as the Dow rose 40 points on very heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is still moving lower. A gap higher to begin with and then a sell off into negative territory only to come back up once again. The NASDAQ led the way and that's a good thing for the bulls. Perhaps yesterdays sell signal only lasted a day again. That has happened before during this years long rally. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are turning sideways but still in overbought territory. I'm not exactly sure what we have going next here for the market but we'll take the weekend to try and figure things out. Gold was off five bucks on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates finished flat once again. The XAU lost 4 1/8 and GDX shed 7/8. Volume was average. GDX remains short term oversold and hanging around the 50 day moving average. No GDX option trades for now. Mentally I'm feeling tired. The VIX was higher today which doesn't fit with an up market. Still on the short term oversold side of the ledger here. Getting mixed signals from the VIX lately and not sure where it goes from here. Plenty of charts to look at over the weekend. I'll try to come up with something with three weeks to go in the November option cycle. Europe and Asia finished lower with the exception of Japan to close the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Sellers took over today as the Dow fell 110 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is heading lower. We did get a sell signal from one of our indicators last night and it appears to be valid. How long it lasts is the question. The US/China trade talks ended peacefully but there were some earnings reports the weren't viewed as favorable. The overall market was much weaker than the Dow with the NASDAQ leading things lower by far. That is not a plus. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 have turned down. Our hope is that things hold up here but the S&P did close practically at the low for the session. Gold rose $38 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates ticked up. The XAU gained 5 1/4, while GDX was up 1 2/3. Volume was a bit above average. GDX remains short term oversold but the indicators are trying to move up. Not sure if GDX is putting in a bottom here but it is possible. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX ended basically unchanged today which doesn't fit with a down market. Still short term oversold on the indicators here. Hard for me to figure out what the VIX is implying here as it hasn't matched up with the overall stock price movement for a few days. We are going to let tomorrow pass and look to next week to possibly make the next option trade. Asia and Europe finished lower. We'll close out the month of October and the trading week tomorrow.

A mixed bag after the Fed as the Dow fell 74 points on pretty heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is beginning to move sideways. No surprises from the Fed as rates dropped as expected. The NASDAQ was higher today but the Dow was lower and the S&P 500 finished flat. As long as the NASDAQ continues to lead we'll give the benefit of the doubt to the bulls. The S&P 500 remains short term overbought. Next up is the US/China trade meeting tomorrow. Good news will take us higher and bad news will see some selling. Gold was off $24. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU and GDX had fractional gains on good volume. GDX remains short term oversold hanging around its 50 day moving average. No GDX trades in mind for now. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher today and remains short term oversold. Not sure what to expect next there. Market breadth hasn't been all that great lately and the summation index has been having trouble going higher. Although we still give the bulls the edge for now we all know things can change in a hurry. We will see what happens overnight and go from there. Asia was generally higher and Europe generally lower in last nights trade. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Another positive session as the Dow gained 161 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were negative though. The summation index is still moving higher. The gains were better during the day but we had a sell off in the final hour. The NASDAQ continues to lead the way higher. New all time highs for the big 3 again. The S&P 500 is still short term overbought. We'll get the Fed tomorrow and that should get things moving one way or the other. If we can get a couple of days more of buying, a sell signal may pop up. We'll see. Gold dropped forty bucks on the futures to close below the $4000 level. The US dollar was a touch lower and interest rates finished little changed. The XAU was up 3 1/2 and GDX gained a point. Volume was good. The gold shares followed the overall market higher. GDX remains short term oversold. Not sure if it is putting in some kind of bottom here but we are not going to risk trying the GDX calls yet. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher today on an up day and that doesn't fit. Still short term oversold here. Not sure what's coming next here. Still plenty of earnings to digest this week along with a US/China meeting of leaders. Trying to remain patient for now as we watch and wait. Asia and Europe were lower on Tuesday with the exception of the FTSE. We'll see how markets react to the Fed tomorrow.