The summar rally is in full swing as the Dow climbed 285 points on light volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is moving back up. Inflation data came in where expected and the market opened with a gap higher and never looked back. The NASDAQ was the leader and that's a plus. The short term technical indicators for the S&P 500 have turned back up and are reaching overbought territory. We are getting our wish of a light volume rally back to the recent highs and closed above them today. The question is do we follow through with the SPY July puts now? Can we explain away the light volume to the pre-holiday summer week? Always plenty of questions without clear answers. We'll have plenty to consider over the long weekend. Monday is a shortened session. Gold was up $10 on the futures. The US dollar was lower and interest rates were mixed. The XAU gained over 2 points while GDX added 1/2. Volume wasn't bad considering it was a getaway Friday. The weekly chart for GDX now has what appears to be a hammer off of its 50 week moving average. Looking back the GDX calls that I sold this week for a loss are back to break even. The GDX calls that I did not purchase yesterday morning have more than doubled. And so it goes in the trading game. Perhaps If the gold shares show some weakness next week we'll try the calls again. But it is probably too late. A two month down trend line on the daily chart for GDX comes in at 30.25 and we are very close to breaking through. Mentally I'm still in the frustrated mode with regards to my trading decisions this week. Timing is everything and so is the belief in your ideas. Having the ability to move forward can't be dismissed and that is what I'll be working on over the weekend. The VIX was lower today but came up from lower levels. It remains bullish but those Bollinger bands continue to contract. Not yet short term oversold here on a daily basis. Stock market indices are moving up here as we are in a summer rally. How far will it go is the question. We'll go over the charts this weekend but the real trading won't begin until Wednesday of next week. Hopefully I'll come up with some type of game plan by then. Europe was higher and Asia mixed to finish the trading week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Moving higher for the Dow as it gained 269 points on light volume. The advance/declines were 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is trying to move back up. The Dow was the leader today as the NASDAQ was flat on the session. The S&P 500 had a decent gain and the short term indicators here are beginning to move back up. We'll see how things go after tomorrows inflation data. Gold was off six bucks on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates spiked up. The XAU was up 1 1/3, while GDX gained 3/8. They both opened lower and closed higher for one day upside reversals. Volume was light. I wrestled with the idea to put in another order for the GDX calls overnight but declined. That now looks like a mistake with GDX holding on to its 200 day moving average on the daily chart. One day doesn't make a trend but the fact that the gold shares rallied when gold didn't is a plus for them. Perhaps the positive RSI diveegence on the daily chart is valid after all. We'll know more in the coming days. Mentally I'm feeling frustrated after trading the GDX calls for some losses and then not trying that idea again when I again felt the time was right. This is always why we say the mental capital is more important than anything else in this game. Had I not focussed on those losing trades perhaps I would have tried the GDX July calls again last night. But the beat goes on. The VIX was up slightly today and that doesn't fit the upside day for most stocks. The Bollinger bands here are beginning to contract which implies something is brewing for the VIX. At such low levels here I can only think that it will be more volatility but we'll wait and see. If so then maybe our thesis of the SPY July puts will work. We are getting a light volume rally in the S&P so far. Europe and Asia were mixed overnight. We'll see how the market fares with tomorrows inflation data. End of the month, first half of the year and the last trading day before a long holiday weekend on tap.

Kind of just running in place today as the Dow fell 74 points on light volume. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index is moving sideways. We had a gap down at the open and then rallied to be positive. After a mid-day sell off the market drifted sideways into the close. The NASDAQ posted a slight gain on the session. There was no upside follow through to yesterdays gains for the S&P 500. The short term technical picture there remains the same. We are still hoping for a light volume rally back to the recent highs to get some SPY July puts. Not sure that the market will cooperate. Inflation data due out on Friday ahead of a long holiday weekend should be the next market mover. Staying patient for now. Gold was off $5 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates were lower on the day. The XAU lost 1 3/4, while GDX shed 3/8 on good volume. Perhaps we are seeing some of the end of the month, quarter or first half selling of the gold shares. GDX is now at its 200 day moving average and short term oversold. The potential positive divergence in the daily RSI here did not work out. I was stopped out of the GDX trade from yesterday with a 35% loss. This is totally acceptable as normal losses are part of the game when patterns do not work out. Not a lot of money involved in that trade and the fact that it was managed well is a plus. Now will have to decide whether we want to try it again with the support at the 200 day and the short term oversold condition. Or perhaps we'll just step aside as this idea hasn't worked for quite a while now. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today with a mixed market. The low VIX still bodes well for stocks going forward. Which calls into question our idea of trying the SPY July puts if we move higher from here. Never any easy answers to questions in this game. Europe and Asia were higher overnight. We'll keep an eye on tonight headlines.

Buyers returned today as the Dow gained 212 points on light volume. The advance/declines were shy of 3 to 1 positive. The summation index is now trying to turn around and is tracking sideways. The NASDAQ was the leader to the upside. Some of the short term indicators for the S&P 500 are starting to turn back up. We'll know in the coming sessions if this was just a bounce or the start of another leg higher. If we rally back to the recent highs on light volume, we will try the SPY July puts at that time. If we simply hang around after todays gains, then we'll know that the market is running out of gas. Timing as always will be the key to this idea. Gold fell ten bucks on the futures. The US dollar was lower and interest rates were higher. The XAU was off 1 1/8, while GDX lost 3/8. Volume was average to the downside. I did place an overnight order for the GDX July calls and it was filled. The entry price wasn't the greatest and the trade is showing a small loss to start. The stop loss order is in as we will try and prevent another big loss from trading the gold shares. The potential positive RSI divergence remains intact for GDX but more selling this week will negate that. So we'll see where things go from here. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and that fits todays market price action. The short term indicators are beginning to roll over here. The VIX still implies higher stock prices going forward. Perhaps we should take our cues from this indicator. I will say that if the summation index starts moving back up we may have to shelve our SPY put idea. We are in the next trade and I'll try and manage it correctly for a change so we'll go from here. Europe and Asia were higher with the exception of Japan. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Another mixed bag today as the market is trying to gain some footing. The Dow was down 12 points today on light volume. The advance/declines were around 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is still moving lower. The overall market was much weaker than the Dow with the NASDAQ once again leading the way down. That remains a negative. Positive breadth with a lower market isn't the norm for market behavior. Not sure what's going on here but we were looking for a pause in the rally and we are getting that. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 continue to head lower but are not oversold yet. We are still interested in the July SPY puts but not without some kind of light volume rally first. Gold was up a few bucks on the futures. The US dollar was a bit lower and interest rates finished little changed. The XAU rose 1 1/8, while GDX added 1/4. Volume was light. The potential positive RSI divergence for the gold shares remains intact and I am thinking about putting in an order for the GDX July calls overnight. Not exactly sure this is another good idea but we'll have a stop loss order in place this time around so that if it fails it won't be another total disastor. We'll see. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher today and that fits a down market. The short term indicators for the VIX are now moving up. Not overbought on the short term just yet but a couple more down days would do it. Stocks appear to have run out of steam to the upside for now. This week will finish off the month of June and lead into a long holiday weekend. Traders should get things done by the end of the week and then summertime will really hit. There's still plenty of time in the July option cycle but the trading might slow down with the summar doldrums. it is another thing to consider when taking on any trades going forward. Asia was lower and Europe mixed to start the trading week overseas. We'll keep an eye on the overnight developments.

We got a pretty big move on the open to fulfill the McClellan oscillator signal from Wednesday as the Dow fell 300 points at the start. The most watched index finished with a loss of 219 on heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is now moving lower. We were hoping for some kind of rally back to the recent highs for the S&P 500 in order to purchase the SPY July puts but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. The NASDAQ was the leader to the downside today and that remains a negative. The short term indicators for the S&P are pointing down and about at mid-range. Still pretty far from the 50 day moving average at 4200 which would be the target for this move lower. We'll remain patient here for now and see how things go next week. Gold was up $5 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates dropped a bit. The XAU and GDX had fractional losses on light volume. Still short term oversold for GDX. The potential positive RSI divergence is still in place here but I'm not sure if I'll try the GDX July calls yet. Plenty of time in the July option cycle. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher today and that fits with a down market. Still pretty oversold though and some distance away from the 50 day moving average. But the VIX does imply higher prices for stocks going forward. Europe and Asia continued lower last night to finish a negative week. Money moved out of stocks around the world this week. We'll see if there is any follow through selling before the end of the month and first half of the year. I'll be checking the charts as usual over the weekend. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Bouncing back a bit today for the overall market but the Dow posted a loss of 5 points on light volume. The advance/declines were around 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is beginning to roll over. The overall market was stronger than the Dow with both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 sporting gains on the day. We did get a signal from the McClellan oscillator last night for a big move within the next two days. We'll see if that pans out tomorrow. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are trying to turn back up. Perhaps we'll get our wish for a light volume rally to the recent highs in order to try the SPY July puts. But that remains to be seen. For now we'll watch and wait. Gold was off twenty bucks on the futures. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU and GDX had slight fractional losses once again coming back from the lows of the session. Volume was light. GDX is now short term oversold but we are not yet ready to try the calls here again. There is a possible positive RSI divegence on the daily chart for GDX. However we are going to take a wait and see stance here as well with so much time remaining in the July option cycle. The fundamentals for gold are pretty negative here as well but we reserve the right to change our minds as conditions warrant. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was down today and now is below the 13 level. About as oversold as it gets on the short term indicators. The VIX implies that the rally will go on. Europe and Asia were both down last night. We'll see if we get that big move in stocks tomorrow.

More of the same today as the Dow fell 102 points on light volume. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index is beginning to move sideways. Nothing new from the Fed chairman today with more talk tomorrow. It's the first day of summer and the market is acting like it as we appear to be going nowhere fast. The NASDAQ led the way down and that's a minus overall. We are now looking at the SPY July puts but will wait for some kind of move back to the recent highs to try that idea. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 continue to curl down. No rush to put on a trade here as there is plenty of time in the July option cycle. Stock markets were overdue for a pause and we are getting one now. Gold was off a few bucks on the futures. The US dollar was down and interest rates finished little changed. The XAU and GDX had slight fractional losses on light volume. Gold and the gold shares did come up from the worst levels on the session. Have they hammered out a bottom here? That remains to be seen. We'll watch and wait at this juncture. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and that doesn't fit with a down market. Very short term oversold here so I simply don't know what to expect next from this indicator. It is in bullish territory though. After a nice run higher it seems as though the bulls are taking a break here. Ideally we'd like to see a move back towards the recent highs on light volume so we can attempt the SPY puts. Markets rarely copperate. Asia was mixed and Europe lower in last nights trade. We'll keep an eye on tonights market action.

A bit of selling to start the shortened trading week as the Dow fell 245 points on about average volume. The advance/declines were 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is starting to congest. We did finish off of the worst levels for the session. Despite the two day drop for both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 they still remain short term overbought. Not sure what's next here for stocks but a move back towards the 50 day moving averages would not be out of the question. We've got the Fed chairman speaking for the next two days and perhaps that will provide some market movement. No SPY trades for now as we have just rolled into the July option cycle. Gold fell over $20 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates a bit lower. The XAU dropped 4 2/3, while GDX shed 1 1/4. Volume was good to the downside. The longer term up trend line for GDX is being broken today. The contracting Bollinger bands appear to have worked to the downside for the big move that was anticipated. I had thought that the up trend line would hold and based my recent trades for GDX on that premise. That was wrong if todays break lower continues and we think that it will. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The VIX was up today and remains short term oversold. If this indicator heads back to its 50 day moving average we should see more downside for stocks. Hasn't happened yet but we'll keep an eye on it. Europe and Asia were generally lower overnight. We'll see how things go tomorrow.

Finally saw some selling today but it wasn't much on option expiration Friday. The Dow fell 108 points on expiration heavy volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is moving up. The major averages remain short term overbought. We'll need to see some more selling to relieve that conditon. All in all it was a good week for stocks. However I'm still concerned about the distance from the 50 day moving averages for the major indexes. They have to start to consolidate or move back towards the 50 day as going straight up never ends well. Perhaps today was the start of some corrective activity. Or maybe it was just opton expiration related. We'll know as time moves on. No SPY trades in mind for now as the July option cycle has an extra week in it. Gold was off a couple bucks on the futures. The US dollar was a bit higher along with interest rates. The XAU was up 1 1/8, while GDX gained over 1/3. Volume was light. I canceled my open order for the GDX July calls as I did not want to hold it over the long weekend. We'll revisit this idea next week. The tightening Bollinger bands for the gold shares imply a decent move coming. However the mid-range short term technical indicators make it difficult to figure out which way things will go. I'm still thinking the move will be up as the longer term trend line that I've spoken of for GDX remains intact. But markets go where thay want and the recent losing trade there has me hesitant. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and that doesn't fit a down market. Remaining short term oversold here. Again I'm not sure what to make of the VIX action. It is still in bullish territory though. We got out of the position that we had in BOIL, the natural gas ETF. The gain was 22%. We'll wait for it to return to short term oversold and try it again. It is a 2 times leveraged instrument that I am still learning how to operate. It has worked twice but that doesn't guarantee anything going forward. Monday is a holiday in the US so we'll have an extra day to go over the charts. Both Europe and Asia were on the plus side last night. It's Friday afternonn and time for a break.

The rally lives on as the Dow climbed 428 points on average volume. The advance/declines were 3 to 1 positive. The summation index is moving higher. All the major stock averages posted gains as sellers have disappeared. Getting overbought to the extreme for some of the indices that are straight lines going up. Like I've said before we are getting too far from the 50 day moving averages. Both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 fit that description. It appears our guess of the indices running up into option expiration was correct. But this cannot last forever and some type of drop or consolidation is in the cards going forward. We'll enjoy the ride while it lasts. Gold was up a buck on the futures. The US dollar was lower along with interest rates. The XAU and GDX had slight fractional moves one way or the other on light volume. The Bollinger bands on the GDX daily chart are starting to converge implying a big move is coming. Which way is the question. That longer term up trend line for GDX remains intact. The short term indicators remain mid-range though. I did put in another order for the GDX July calls today. For some reason I still believe that the gold shares will hold up here and rally. Am I simply a glutton for punishment? No. As long as the up trend line in place from last October for GDX remains valid I have to think that prices will rise from it. If that line gets broken then we will forget about the calls. I am however concerned that the US dollar dropped hard this week and gold did not rally. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up today despite a huge rally for stocks. That isn't the usual relationship. Not sure what that's all about. The VIX remains short term oversold but in an area that favors higher prices going forward. Markets can and do sometimes remain overbought for extended periods. It appears that we are in such period right now. Asia was mixed and Europe generally lower overnight. We've got expiration Friday tomorrow ahead of a long weekend. We'll see how it goes.

We had some selling today despite better than expected inflation numbers and no real surprises from the Fed. The Dow fell 232 points on average volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is moving up. We did get some volatility after the Fed announcement as the market moved down and up. But by the time the day was finished it was a mixed bag. The NASDAQ remains the leader and posted a gain on the day. The S&P 500 finished slightly higher. The major stock indexes remain short term overbought and due for a pause. The S&P is getting pretty far from its 50 day moving average. Even if we do see some selling or sideways movement, the trend is up. Not sure where the liquidity is coming from but buyers are in charge. Only a couple of trading days left before a long weekend in the US. I guess we'll see how far things can go into option expiration Friday. Gold finished flat on the day. The US dollar was lower and interest rates were mixed. The XAU and GDX finished little changed on light volume. They also bounced back and forth during the session but the result was right where we left yesterday. No interest in the gold shares for now but the longer term up trend line for GDX does remain intact. I am thinking about the GDX July calls but after the recent losing trade in GDX I'm also looking elsewhere. The fact that the up trend line from last October is still in place to me is a plus. But that hasn't translated into a profitable trade for me yet. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and is below the 14 level. Still short term oversold but the VIX is in positive territory for this indicator overall. It is another reason to stay in the bullish camp for now. Retail sales data out tomorrow and that could be a market mover. I will probably stay on the sidelines and wait for the July option cycle to make the next trade. We'll see. Europe was up and Asia mixed overnight. We'll keep an eye on the overnight developments.

Inflation data came in where expected and the market took off to the upside as the Dow gained 146 points on average volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is moving higher. The NASDAQ continues to lead the way. Overbought and extended here but the market keeps moving up. I'm not sure how much longer this can go on. It's starting to appear as though we are going straight up and that never ends well. Overdue now for at least a pause. We get the Fed and producer prices tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. The positive expiration week bias is in effect for now. The technical conditon for the major indices remains the same. Overbought and staying that way. Gold fell $13 on the futures as the inflation data was a non event here. The US dollar was lower and interest rates were up. After a brief pop at the open the gold shares lost ground again. Both the XAU and GDX were off 1/3 on light volume. I dumped the GDX June calls for a 95% loss as this trade was dead and needed a miracle to turn around. Poorly managed once again plus costly. Although the longer term trend line for GDX remains intact, the gold shares haven't been acting good for a while. The short term indicators for GDX have turned back down again but they've been going back and forth since the month began. Not sure what to do here next but I did consider rolling into the GDX July calls. We'll have to see if the weekly up trend line holds the rest of this week. Mentally I'm feeling a bit down as the losing trade weighs on the mental capital. However win or lose you've always got to keep moving in this game. There is no time to feel sorry for yourself or lament. Just as there is no time for celebrations and pats on the back. The markets just keep going. The VIX was lower today and that fits an up market. Still short term oversold here but not at an extreme. I don't know what's next in store for the VIX. There shouldn't be any surprises from the Fed tomorrow and it is already probably baked into the market. Could be a sell the news event but we'll see. Europe and Asia were higher overnight. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

No need to wait on the inflation data as we got a rally to begin option expiration week. The Dow climbed 189 points on light volume. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index continues higher. The NASDAQ continues to be the leader and that's a plus for the bulls. Short term overbought for the major averages but that's not stopping the rise. Perhaps some short covering involved today as well. The S&P 500 has broken through the 4300 level so we'll just have to see how far things can go. Probably will run things up into the expiration on Friday unless there's some kind of unpleasant surprise looming. Getting pretty far away from the 50 day moving averages for some of the indices. Gold was off five bucks on the futures. The US dollar and interest rates finished little changed. They are at least waiting on tomorrows data. The XAU and GDX had very slight fractional gains on pretty light volume. My GDX June calls remain dead to the world. If the gold shares don't rally tomorrow this trade will be over. GDX is right on the longer term trend line and where it goes from here will tell us a lot. Today was probably the time to buy the gold share calls if that line is going to hold up. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up today and that does not fit with an up market. The short term indicators here have turned higher. Normally that would coincide with a down market so I don't know what is going on here. Does it spell trouble for tomorrow? We'll see. The VIX is far from its 50 day moving average as well. However the market is obviously in rally mode for now. Europe and Asia were up to start the week. We'll see how the market reacts to the inflation data tomorrow.

Marking time is what we're doing here as the Dow rose 43 points on light volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index continues up. The market is just hanging around until next weeks data and Fed meeting happen. The technical conditions for the major averages remain the same. We don't know what next week will bring but we should at least get some price movenment one way or the other in a big way. So for now we will simply have to wait. Gold was off a few bucks on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates ticked up. The XAU fell 1 1/2, while GDX lost almost 1/2. Volume was very light. My GDX June calls are dead, as they are so far out of the money the most we can hope for is a cut the loss rally on the data next week. The short term technicals for GDX remain at mid-range. The longer term up trend line for GDX remains intact for now and that is about the only thing it has going for it at the moment. The line will either be broken next week or we'll get some kind of decent bounce up from it. Once again it's a waiting game which isn't the best scenario when trading options. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The VIX was up a touch today but is still short term oversold. It's still pretty far off from its 50 day moving average. So here we are. The weekend is upon us with a losing trade in hand. Only a good move higher in the gold shares next week will prevent another unacceptable losing trade. We'll go over the charts this weekend but all we can do is wait. Even if the GDX June call trade makes a comeback it still wasn't managed properly. Asia was higher and Europe lower to close the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Moving higher today as the Dow rose 168 points on light volume. The advance/declines were slightly negative. The summation index continues higher. Now the short term indicators on the NASDAQ are trying to turn back up. The NASDAQ was the leader to the upside today and that's a plus. Both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 remain short term overbought. It looks like the near term rally has legs for now. But the market is still waiting on inflation data and the Fed next week. Gold bounced back as the long term up trend line continues to hold. The precious metal futures were up twenty bucks. The US dollar was down and interest rates were a bit lower. The XAU added 1 1/2, while GDX was up 1/2. Volume was light. My GDX June calls are still losers but I may continue to hold them into the Fed meeting as long as the longer term up trend line here isn't violated. Risky to be sure with only 6 days left in the June option cycle. The short term indicators for GDX are mid-range and trying to move higher. However we would have liked to see a better move up for GDX during the session considering the positive action today in gold and silver. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX is still moving lower and remains short term oversold. Can it stay that way until option expiration next Friday? Stay tuned. Europe and Asia finished mixed overnight. We'll close out the trading week tomorrow.

More of the same as the Dow gained 91 points on good volume. The advance/declines were shy of 2 to 1 positive. It was a mixed bag though as both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 showed losses on the day. The NASDAQ sported the deepest decline and the short term indicators here appear to be rolling over. That would change the bullish outlook if it continues. The NASDAQ is pretty far away from its 50 day moving average. If this is indeed the start of a return to that line, we still have a ways to go. But the breadth here is far from negative and perhaps it is just some profit taking in that index. The S&P 500 remains short term overbought. Gold got whacked today as the futures fell $25. The US dollar was a bit higher and interest rates rose. The XAU dropped 1 2/3, while GDX lost 5/8 on average volume. My GDX June calls are solid losers. I considered dumping them today but GDX is still above the longer term trend line although it has the feel now that it isn't going to hold. It was also a one day downside reversal for the gold shares. If we don't see any upside for the gold shares by the end of the week it will be time to put this trade to bed. Mentally feeling a bit frustrated again with the losing GDX trade. It showed a profit for a day or two last week and that was about it. The VIX finished little changed today and is very oversold. I'm not sure how long it will stay that way. The VIX is bullish for stocks right now so we'll see how long that lasts. Asia was mixed and Europe slightly lower in last nights trade. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Another day of hanging around as the Dow was up 10 points on light volume. The advance/declines were around 4 to 1 positive though. The summation index is moving up. The NASDAQ led the way higher but there weren't any big gains. Like a broken record the major averages remain short term overbought. During rallies that condition lasts longer than you think. The better breadth is a positive going forward. However so far this week seems like the market is marking time until the next Fed meeting which is a week away. So the question is are we just going to be waiting for that or will we get at least some kind of short term trend here? We'll have to remain on the sidelines with regards to the SPY until we get a decent signal one way or the other. Gold was up about $5 on the futures. The US dollar was a bit higher and interest rates were mixed. The XAU and GDX had fractional gains on very light volume. The short term indicators for GDX are starting to move sideways. There is very little interest in the gold shares at the moment. My GDX June calls continue to be losers. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower and now stands at 14. Short term oversold and staying that way. The VIX level hasn't been this low in over 3 years. Not sure what it means but a low VIX is usually bullish for stocks. So I guess we'll just be waiting around for this week to finish at the rate things are going. That won't help the option trades. But the market does what it wants and goes where it wants. Asia was mixed and Europe higher in last nights trade. We'll see if something gets things going overnight.

A nondescript start to the week as the Dow fell 200 points on light volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is moving higher. No follow through to Fridays good gains but some profit taking could be expected. It is a light week for economic data. The S&P 500 remains short term overbought as does the NASDAQ. The Dow was the leader going lower. No SPY trades in mind for now. Gold gained $8 on the futures. The US dollar finished unchanged and interest rates were flat as well. The XAU and GDX ended little changed too. Volume was light. My GDX June calls are still in the red. The longer term up trend line for gold and GDX remains intact for now. A break of that line will end the current trade and I'll have to take the loss. The weekly technical indicators for GDX are mid-range so it could go either way here. We'll hold for now. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up slightly and remains short term oversold. The level here remains below 15 and that is bullish. Getting pretty far from the 50 day moving average though. Not much else to report for the first Monday in June. Asia up and Europe down overnight. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

The Dow exploded to the upside today as it gained 701 points on good volume. The advance/declines were just shy of 6 to 1 positive. The summation index has turned around and is now moving higher. The zero line there has held for now. The jobs report came in hot with expanding job creation. The other details of the report were a touch weaker. The stock market liked what it saw but the Dow was the leader today. It looks like perhaps the summer rally is starting early this year. The S&P 500 appears to be on its way to the next resistance level at 4300. Short term overbought here with a little room left for the indicators to move higher. The NASDAQ remains overbought as it has been for weeks. It was a good week for stocks. Gold got pounded today as the futures were off thirty bucks. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU fell a point and GDX lost 5/8. Volume was good to the downside. My GDX June calls are back in the red. The daily candlestick chart here now looks bearish ot at least implying sideways price action. I thought about just selling this position and taking the small loss but the price movement today in the gold shares did not match the magnitude of the drop in gold itself. Still 2 weeks to go here but I'm certainly not sure that this idea will pan out. We got the oversold bounce for GDX this week but todays price action puts a damper on things. GDX is still above the longer term up trend line but we will have to see if that holds next week. Gold itself is in the same situation. Mentally I'm feeling anxious as I probably should have sold out this GDX position for a loss today. But we'll see what happens next week. The VIX continues to drop and closed below the 15 level today. This is bullish for stocks. Short term oversold now but in rallies the VIX stays that way. The market always knows more than we do. Not sure where the liquidity is coming from but I would not advise fighting the up trend. We'll go over the charts this weekend as usual. Asia and Europe closed higher. It looks like I was wrong about the sell the news event regarding the debt ceiling drama. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

It wasn't exactly a big move in the Dow but the overall market was up better than the most watched index. The Dow gained 153 points on good volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is trying to turn back up before it crosses the zero line. I'm guessing it will be successful. The NASDAQ continues to lead the way. The debt ceiling bill made it through one house of Congress and it seems like a done deal. The employment report out tomorrow should provide the market with reasons to move one way or the other. The S&P 500 is still not completely short term overbought so it could move higher from here. Back above 4200 but it hasn't been what we'd call a broad based rally. I still don't have any SPY trades in mind for now. Gold was up $13 on the futures. The US dollar was lower and interest rates dipped slightly. The gold shares found buyers as the XAU gained 4 points, while GDX added 1 1/8. Volume was good to the upside for a second day in a row. The short term indicators for GDX have now turned up with room to move higher. The longer term up trend line for GDX is still in place. My GDX June calls have moved into the black. However this trade still has to be managed properly from here. Do I get out with the small profit now or hold on for more gains? There's still a couple of weeks left in the June option cycle. It does appear that we at least have some kind of bottom in place with the gold shares now. But that could all change tomorrow in this game. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX dropped and that fits todays price action. It appears that it has closed at a new low for the year. The low VIX is bullish for stocks and it is not completely short term oversold yet. It is oversold on a weekly basis though. Just a day left in the shortened trading week. Asia was mixed and Europe higher overnight. We'll see how the market reacts to the jobs report to close out the week tomorrow.