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.