Volatility is the name of the game for now as the Dow gained 238 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were barely positive. The summation index is still heading lower. It was a back and forth trading day with an upwards bias. The Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 had the same percentage gains on the session. The short term indicators for the S&P are now mid-range. So it could go either way. However with earnings season upon us my guess is that we'll get the usual beating of low expectations that lead to rallies in particular stocks. We'll see. Rolling into the November option cycle. Gold took a breather today as it dropped sixty bucks. The US dollar was slightly higher along with interest rates. The gold shares got clobbered. The XAU fell 23 1/3 and GDX dropped almost 6 points. Volume was extremely heavy in a run to the exits. The short term indicators for GDX have turned down again with room to go. Time will tell if this is the beginning of a sustained move lower or just another blip on the way up. Long overdue for some kind of correction in gold and the gold shares. Mentally I'm feeling tired. The VIX jumped up to 29 today only to drop all the way back near 20. The short term indicators here have turned down. The daily candlestick chart for the VIX implies that the decline is over. We'll have to wait and see about that. I'll be going over all the charts this weekend as usual. No rush to trade as November has an extra week in its option cycle so premiums are high. Combine that with the recent volatility and options are pricey. Europe and Asia were down with the exception of India to close the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Heading lower today as the Dow fell 301 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were around 3 to 1 negative. The summation index is back to moving lower. We had a gap higher at the open and a short rally that turned around. It was a one day reversal to the downside for the major indices. The Dow and S&P led things lower so it wasn't the most bearish possible scenario. But the short term indicators for the S&P 500 have turned lower again. Could lead to an interesting expiration Friday. I did not place any trades and decided to stay on the sidelines as the short term trades are not usually my best efforts. Had some opportunities this week but recognized that I was not up to the challenge. We are now looking at the November option cycle. Gold was up $125 on the futures, past the $4300 level and a new all time high. This rally in the precious metals is getting a little insane. The XAU was up 10 7/8 and GDX gained 2 7/8. Volume continues to be strong to the upside. The short term indicators for GDX continue to be overbought and it has broken above the upper Bollinger band. Perhaps gold knows something that we don't. Or maybe it's just another tulip bulb mania. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX jumped to 25 today and is short term overbought. Volatility is back. As I've already said the trades have to be short lived and profits taken when they are there because that's where we find ourselves at the moment. Tougher than usual trading atmosphere. Asia and Europe were generally higher overnight. We'll close out the trading week with expiration Friday tomorrow.

Bouncing all around today and the Dow finished with a loss of 17 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is still trying to turn back up. We had a gap higher and rally at the open followed by a steep decline. The market then made it all back and then some. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 posted gains with the NASDAQ leading the way. The short term indicators for the S&P have turned back up. I did put in an order today for the SPY October puts but it wasn't filled. Might be too late now for this idea but we'll see. Only a couple of days left in the October option cycle. We did make it to the resistance at 6720 on the S&P today. Perhaps if we get there tomorrow I'll try the puts but probably the more prudent thing to do would be to stay on the sidelines and roll into the November cycle. Gold was up over sixty bucks today and crossed the $4200 level. The US dollar finished lower and interest rates ticked up. The XAU was up 11 1/3 and GDX climbed 3 points. Volume was good to the upside. GDX is back to short term overbought. Gold is going straight up and the gold shares follow. An incredible run higher so enjoy it while it lasts. No telling when it will end but that will be spectacular as well. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was a bit lower and remains above 20. The short term indicators are starting to move sideways. Not sure where the VIX is heading next. Wild moves in the market lately so the risk factor has increased. You need to take your profits if you have them quickly in this trading environment. Asia was higher and Europe lower except for France overnight. We'll keep an eye on tonights developments.

A mixed bag today but the Dow managed a gain of 202 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were around 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is trying to turn back up. The NASDAQ had a decent drop and the S&P 500 was slightly lower. We retested the recent lows on the S&P early this morning and they held for now. The question now is will the S&P head down there again and will the lows hold on a third drop? Today the S&P made it back to the first resistance at 6680 and was turned back in the final half hour. With only three days to go in the October option cycle is it worth the risk for another trade here? Well yes, if the timing in and out is correct. But that is no easy task. Some of the short term indicators for the S&P are still heading lower and others remain at mid-range. I'll consider what I want to do overnight. Gold was up $27 on the futures. The US dollar was lower along with interest rates. The XAU was off 2 1/2, while GDX slid 7/8. Volume was average. The short term indicators on GDX are overbought but not completely. Some of them are starting to turn down. Gold up and the gold shares down isn't a positive. Mentally I'm feeling a little tired. The VIX bounce around and finished higher on the session. The short term indicators here are back to pointing up. The VIX is back above the important level of 20. So volatility should stick around for a while. Headline risk remains front and center since there is no economic data to trade on. Asia and Europe were lower overnight. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

A huge bounce back to the upside as the Dow gained 588 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were around 4 to 1 positive. The summation index is still moving lower. There was a big gap on the open and the market never looked back. The NASAQ led the way higher and that's a plus. The S&P 500 was up over 100 points. Normally we'd be looking for a retest of the recent lows but the price action of the past couple of days has been headline driven so I don't know what to expect. Not looking at the SPY October calls anymore as the jump has already happened. Might try the puts again but with only four days left in the October option cycle the risk is very high. The short term indicators for the S&P are at mid-range with some of them pointing higher. There is some short term resistance at 6680 and plenty more at 6720. Those would be areas to think about the puts if we get that far. However there is also the possibility that the market simply continues to move higher from here. Gold gained $125 on the futures today to a new all time high. Silver hit a new high as well. The US dollar was up and interest rates finished flat. The XAU jumped 14 and GDX was up 3 1/2. Volume was a bit above average. The short term indicators for GDX have turned back up. There is no stopping the money flowing into precious metals or so it seems. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX dropped today and closed back below 20. The short term indicators here have turned back down. That would imply more stock gains in the near term. We'll see. Asia lower and Europe higher to start the week. I'll keep an eye on the overnight headlines.

The tariff tantrum returned and markets got clobbered as the Dow fell 878 points on very heavy volume. The advance/declines were shy of 6 to 1 negative. The summation index is moving down. The NASDAQ led the way down and was off 3.5%. The S&P 500 was off 2.75%. Players all headed to the exits at the same time. The S&P is no longer short term overbought and some indicators have already made it down to short term oversold. All the recent up trend lines for the S&P have been broken. Support could come in at the 50 day moving average at 6530 but we are practically there already. Selling out SPY October puts yesterday proved to be the wrong move but we did what we thought we had to at the time. If we had left the original stop loss order intact we would have been stopped out for a loss this morning when the market rallied at the open today. We've had this problem using the stops loss orders before where we've missed out on moves. However without them the losses can pile up pretty fast. Doesn't matter now. Our sell signal was valid but we are now concerned with where we go from here. I'm looking at the SPY October calls for next week. My guess is that todays tariff tension will be walked back over the weekend. Perhaps if we get some follow through selling on Monday we'll try the calls. Monday is a partial holiday in the US, so trading may be thin. Gold bounced back $57 today on the futures. The US dollar was lower along with interest rates. The XAU and GDX had fractional moves one way or the other on above average volume. The short term indicators for GDX are beginning to move sideways. Waiting to see if it breaks support at the 74 level. Mentally I'm feeling a bit frustrated. The VIX jumped today and now is above the important level of 20. Short term overbought now but not completely. The volatility implied by the tight Bollinger bands finally came to fruition today. Not sure if this is a one day event or the beginning of a sustained decline for stocks. Plenty of work to do on the charts over the weekend. Europe and Asia were down with the exception of India. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Minor selling today as the Dow fell 243 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were 3 to 1 negative. The summation index is moving lower. The Dow led things lower but that isn't the most bearish scenario. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 had small losses and came up from the lows of the session in the final hour. The short term indicators for the S&P have turned lower but are still overbought. During the day I adjusted up my stop loss order on the SPY October puts as the decline didn't have any steam in it and I did not want to book another loss. It got stopped out in the final hour for a 5% gain. We don't take the risks involved trading options for 5% gains but this trade was not working as I had thought it would. The entry wasn't all that good and neither was the exit. Might try this idea again but running out of time in the October option cycle. Yesterday I was thankful that we abandoned the GDX put idea. Today gold and the gold shares got crushed. The precious metal futures fell $82. The US dollar was higher and interest rates were up slightly. The XAU lost almost 13 points and GDX was off 3 1/2. Volume was heavy. The short term indicators for GDX have now rolled over with plenty of room to go. The near term up trend line comes in at just below 74. A break there will tell us that the party is over for the gold shares. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up slightly today. The short term indicators here are stalling at the mid-range level. Not sure what's next for the VIX. The Bollinger bands remain tight but that hasn't led to any big increase in volatility yet. Asia was generally higher and Europe generally lower overnight. We'll close out the week tomorrow.