Pretty much a sideways summer session as the Dow dipped 6 points on good volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index remains in a channel. The NASDAQ led the way lower which is not a plus. Waiting on after the bell earnings as there isn't much to trade off of this week. The S&P 500 posted a small loss. The short term indicators there have begun to stall at the mid-range level. No clear signal one way or the other on the S&P so I will remain on the sidelines with regards to the SPY options for now. Gold continued higher as the futures gained $63. The US dollar was a touch lower and interest rates continued to climb. The XAU was up 9 3/4 and GDX added 2 1/2. Volume was average here. The short term indicators for GDX are moving up. It appears that I've missed this move higher for the gold shares but we'll have to see where it goes from here. I still like the idea of the GDX calls moving forward. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was bit lower today. Its short term indicators are stalling. The daily candlestick chart here still looks like it wants to go lower. Trying to remain patient here as we look for the next trade. The markets are still in headline risk mode. We will wait for the next good technical signal and go from there. Not sure how long that will take. Asia was generally lower and Europe higher overnight. I'll keep an eye on tonights events.

Higher from the start today as the Dow gained 385 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index remains in a rising channel. The NASDAQ led the way up and that's a plus for the bulls. Waiting on earnings reports as there is not much economic data due out this week. Some of the short term indicators for the S&P 500 have turned back up but they never made it all the way down to oversold territory. Waiting on some kind of signal here as option premiums are high and there is plenty of time in the August option cycle. Gold rallied today as the futures were up $73. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. Normally higher rates along with a strong US dollar would be bearish for gold. Not sure what's going on here. The XAU climbed 15 3/4, while GDX added 3 1/2. Volume was light. The short term indicators for GDX are starting to move up from oversold territory. Will they finally make it higher this time around? Stay tuned. I still like the idea of the GDX calls going forward but will not chase this move as all the recent previous attempts to move up have failed. I will also try to not let the previous losing GDX call trade influence the next trade here. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX dropped and that fits with a rally in stocks. The short term indicators here are now heading south and it appears that the 20 level has kept things in check. The daily candlestick chart on the VIX looks like it wants to go lower which would bode well for stocks. However we do remain in headline risk mode as geo-political tensions have not gone away. Asia mixed and Europe higher overnight. We'll see what tomorrow has in store for us.

We had one day downside reversals for most of the major averages today as the Dow fell 307 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is still stuck in a channel. The Dow led things lower and that isn't the most bearish scenario. Still at the mercy of the next war headline and now there's earnings season to deal with as well. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are still heading down and are not yet completely oversold. No trades in mind here yet as we don't have any technical signals in place. Gold dipped $8 on the futures. The US dollar was a bit higher as were interest rates. The XAU was down 1 1/3, while GDX slupped 1/2. Volume remains light here. The short term indicators for GDX are trending sideways in oversold territory as buyers are yet to be found. That said, we did see on the longer term charts that one of our preferred indicators for GDX is getting close to a buy signal. If that signal is hit I will be trying the GDX calls again. Hasn't happened yet but we are keeping an eye on it. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was a touch lower today which doesn't fit with a down market. Some of the short term indicators here are now moving sideways and are not yet overbought. Not sure what's next for the VIX. Getting close to the 20 level but still shy of it. If the VIX gets above 20 we'll see more volatility. No summer doldrums so far for this year. Asia and Europe were mixed overnight. We'll keep and eye on tonights developments.

Expiration Friday was a downer as the Dow fell 406 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were around 2 to 1 negative. The summation index remains in an ascending sideways channel. There was a huge gap lower at the open and the market spent the rest of the session trying to make it back. It didn't make it. The NASDAQ led the way down and that is not a plus. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 have rolled over with room to go. It looks like new all time highs there will have to wait. The market remains at the mercy of the next US/Iran headline. Gold found a bid and the futures rose $27. The US dollar finished around unchanged as were most interest rates. The XAU was off 1 1/4, while GDX dipped 1/8. Volume was light. GDX continues to remain short term oversold. There remains no interest in owning the gold shares. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX jumped up today which fits the downside day for stocks. The short term indicators here are moving up. Another day like today would put the VIX back over the 20 level. Hasn't happened yet. I'll be checking the charts over the weekend to try and come up with the next trading idea. Asia and Europe were lower with the exceptions of India and the FTSE. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Heading lower today and it would of been worse but we got a pop back up in the last 10 minutes. The Dow dipped 105 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index remains in a sideways channel. The NASDAQ led the way lower. Retail sales came in where expected. The S&P 500 was lower and has remained in a sideways pattern for a little over a week. The short term indicators here are trending sideways with most in overbought territory. I've been looking for a new all time high on the S&P but the longer it takes, the less I think it is going to happen. Markets can stay overbought for quite a while at times though. The question is whether or not now is one of those times. Gold remains weak and dropped $68 on the futures to close below $4000. The US dollar was up and interest rates had a slight gain. The XAU lost 11 3/4 and GDX dropped 2 1/2. Volume was a bit above average. GDX closed below the near term support at 73. The short term indicators are still oversold. The longer term up trend line support for GDX comes in at 55. Is it going to go that low? We'll see. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The VIX was back up today as it tries to make up its mind where to go. The short term indicators on the VIX are back to pointing higher. These indicators have moved back and forth for a couple of weeks. So you can see that the market is trying to make up its mind on which way to go. Europe and Asia finished mixed. We'll close out the week tomorrow.

Back and forth today and the Dow managed a gain of 150 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is moving sideways. The inflation data was weaker than expected just like yesterday. The NASDAQ is still leading the way higher and that's a plus for the bulls. The S&P 500 posted another modest gain as the short term indicators here remain overbought. Continuing to wait and see if we can get to a new all time high on the S&P as earnings season begins. However we are still at the mercy of the US/Iran renewed conflict. Gold was off four bucks as it bounced around today. The US dollar was lower along with interest rates again. The XAU was off 2 3/8, while GDX shed 7/8. Volume remains light. The short term indicators for GDX are tracking sideways in oversold territory. I booked a 95% loss on my GDX July call trade. Did not have a stop loss order this time around and it cost me. I let a recent previous trade where the stop loss order stopped me out of a big winner dictate my tactics here. That was foolish. Should have been out of this trade yesterday when GDX opened with a big gap higher and could not move up from there. Also should have realized that nobody is interested in gold now as the light volume proves. Not sure if I simply fell in love with this idea or did not want to admit it wouldn't work. GDX is still holding on to the support at 73. Not sure if I want to try the August calls here. Mentally I'm feeling disappointed. Just took my biggest loss of the year with nobody to blame but myself. But you still have to move on because the market certainly doesn't care how you feel. The August option cycle has an extra week built in so premiums will be high. The VIX was lower today. It remains short term oversold with some of short term indicators drifting down. Not sure where the VIX is heading next. Asia higher and Europe lower overnight. I'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.

Moving up today on weaker than expected inflation data but the Dow only managed a gain of 9 points on light volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index continues sideways. The NASDAQ led the way higher and that's a plus. The S&P 500 posted a small gain. The short term indicators there have turned back up in overbought territory. Perhaps there is still a shot at new all time highs this week. Gold bounced as the futures gained $56 but it was off from the best levels on the day. The US dollar was lower along with interest rates. The XAU rose 4 1/2 and GDX was up 1 1/2. Volume here remains light as there is no interest in buying the gold shares. GDX had a huge gap higher at the open and then sold off for the rest of the session. My GDX July calls remain dead. I will book the loss at some point this week. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower and some of its short term indicators have turned back down. I'm not sure where it is heading next. The market has a summer feel to it as many players are out and the trading day seems slow. Being held hostage again by the US/Iran conflict plays a part as well. We'll get more inflation data tomorrow followed by retail sales on Thursday. Asia was up with the exception of India and Europe barely moved higher again. We'll see how things go tomorrow.