Continuing to the downside as the Dow fell 173 points on good volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is now starting to move down. The NASDAQ led the way lower. The economic data out today was mixed. It appears that the battle for 3900 on the S&P 500 is on. We did dip below there in the final hour today but made it back above by the close. Getting short term oversold on the S&P but not all the way there yet. I don't think that 3900 will hold but we'll see. Option expiration tomorrow so anything can happen. If the summation index does continue lower towards the zero line we may test the June lows. Hasn't happened yet and there is no impending doom but it's possible given where we are. The market hasn't been able to sustain a rally since the inflation report this past Tuesday. Gold fell $36 on the futures and is solidly below the $1700 level. The US dollar was steady but interest rates continued their climb. The XAU dropped 3 points and GDX shed 3/4. Volume was good to the downside. Despite the drop the gold shares continue to do better on a relative basis than the price of gold. My open order for the GDX October calls is still out there. The prices of the GDX call options for October are holding up better than you would think given the decline in the gold shares. That tells us something. I still like this idea and the order will possibly get filled if the S&P 500 breaks 3900 and takes the gold shares with it. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was slightly higher today. I'm still not getting a good read from the short term indicators here. Expiration Friday should be interesting. Asia was mixed and Europe lower in last nights trade. We'll close out the weeks trading tomorrow.