We spent the day bouncing around with the Dow closing down 20 points on average volume. Advance/declines were slightly negative. Waiting for the Senate bailout vote tonight. The market is hostage to the bailout problem and it's a different type of trading atmosphere. No OEX trades for now. Gold was up $6 in the futures market but has sold off pretty good since. ABX and GG were both slightly higher after being up much higher earlier. NEM had a slight loss. Volume was good. The action in the gold shares today was negative for sure. The GG calls are barely profitable. The dollar was higher today. However, I believe we are at or near resistance for the dollar at theses levels. So we'll see. GE lost over a buck on insane volume. GE is issuing more common stock, never a good sign for the stock price. Warren Buffet said he would be investing in GE at this point. So it too bounced around but closed lower. I'm staying away from it for now. Mentally I'm a bit tired again, did not sleep as good as I could. So we go on to tomorrow still uncertain of what exactly is going on here. The sidelines aren't a bad place to be. Anything could happen at this point. There really are no clear technical signals and the volatility is extreme. Still plenty of time in the October option cycle. So we'll see what happens. Employment report on Friday if anybody cares.

Up and down as the roller coaster ride continues. A 485 point snap back on the Dow today with good volume. Advance/declines were 4 to 1 positive. Now a deal is coming, supposedly. I'm sure one is, one way or another. What the market does is another issue. It's a tough trading environment to be sure. A lot of premium in the options and whipsaw moves. I'll have to wait on trying the OEX at this point. The risk is higher than usual at the moment. Gold was down $15 on the futures and continued to sell off in the aftermarket. The XAU lost 1 3/4. ABX and GG each lost a couple bucks on decent volume. NEM dropped 1/2. I bought some GG calls. Not completely oversold technically but I wanted to give it a go. I'm expecting the dollar to fall later this week when the employment report is released and the deal is done for the bailout. I could be wrong but that should support gold. The Gold/XAU ratio is still solidly in the buy zone. So we'll see. GE came back and was up around 2 3/4 on heavy volume. The options barely moved considering GE was up 10%. That is what is meant by an overload of premium in the options. If the underlying instrument moves 10% and the options barely move, that isn't the type of situation you want to get into. If and when things settle down, perhaps GE will be a viable play. Earnings out on October 10th there. Mentally I'm a bit tired, did not sleep well. So what happens next? We will get this bailout deal out of the way and then it's back to earnings and data as market movers. The summation index is back in the negative but it's not going to stay there too long in my opinion. So I would guess we go sideways to higher in the coming months. However longer term I suspect we are still in a bear market. But it's all just a guess in the game. And as recent events have shown, anything can happen.

So we are in melt down mode as the Dow lost a record 777 points on what must be extremely heavy volume. Advance/declines were 15 to 1 negative. They rejected the bailout plan in Washington today. So it's the panic of 2008. It's not as bad as 1987 when we were down 22% in one day. We would have to drop 2000 points in a day to equal that. Trust me, the world is not coming to an end. Some type of plan will be enacted and the market will rally back. I'm not saying the the overall trend isn't down for a while. It is. For a couple years maybe. But that doesn't mean it's going to be straight down. How can you profit off of what is happening now is the question. Gold was up $5 on the futures and another 20 after the futures closed. The XAU lost 5 1/4 though. ABX continues to amaze with its relative strength, up 1 1/2 on very heavy volume and was higher than that. GG was flat on heavy volume and NEM lost 1 1/2. Volume heavy there as well. I still like the gold shares and have an order in for some GG calls overnight. However as soon as a bailout deal is done, money will leave gold in a hurry. So it's a tricky play. I have an idea of what I want to do so we'll see what happens. GE lost $2 on heavy volume. Not the crazy volume that we saw last week and that may be telling. I'm looking at the calls there, going out to November. There will be some type of snap back rally in GE between now and then. Timing will be key, as usual. But I think there will be money to be made there. Mentally I'm feeling pretty good, slept well enough. These are interesting times, no doubt about that. However the idea is to make money, so that is what must be concentrated on. There is risk galore, don't deny that. As I've said before there is nothing wrong with waiting things out on the sidelines until we get back to normal. Cash is King. This is a tough trading environment to be sure. However there is also opportunity if you can take advantage of it. Tomorrow should be interesting.

Opened lower and closed higher today for a one day bullish reversal in the Dow. We gained 121 points on OK volume. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 negative though. So we are still waiting for some kind of government bailout. It will get done it is just a matter of when. The market reaction to that will be telling. It looks like a rally would take place but that 's just a guess. Trying to trade it isn't the smartest thing to do. No decent signal for the OEX as yet. Gold rose around $6 today but the XAU dropped 3 points. ABX was up 1/2, GG lost a buck and NEM fell 1/2. Volume heavy there again. ABX continues to show incredible relative strength among the gold share issues. Perhaps that will have to be the next play. I'll be looking to buy weakness if there is any early next week in ABX or GG. GE was off 1/3 on average volume. Nothing doing there for now. Mentally I'm doing OK. Remained on the sidelines this week and that was the idea. Now next week I will be looking to do something. What that is exactly remains to be seen. The weekly gold share charts will not be looking bullish after this weeks action. So caution is advised. A lot of uncertainty out there on all fronts at the moment. We'll see what happens. Oil was lower today and the dollar a bit higher. Now what happens there after the bailout? A lot of questions but no answers for now. Nothing wrong with waiting it out really but you won't make any money. However you won't lose any either. The weekend is upon us and a break is in order.

A bailout deal is close was the news today and the Dow rallied 196 points on good volume. Advance/declines were positive. So who knows what happens tomorrow. It's a crazy time in the game. We were up over 300. It is practically impossible to trade the OEX here with all the volatility. As I've said before the normal technicals just don't work. So it's the sidelines for now on the OEX. Gold lost $13 and the XAU fell 4 points today. ABX lost 1 3/4, GG off 2 and NEM dropped 1/2. Volume was pretty good again. I'm still trying to be patient there and todays action shows why. We are still overbought on the gold shares and I will try and wait until next week to get some calls. And even then it may not be the right play. So we'll see where the gold market goes from here. GE was up 3/4 on heavy volume. A lot of premium in the options there at the moment. I'm going to have to tread lightly for now. Mentally I'm doing OK, slept well enough. Patience isn't easy but sometimes it must be done. I would like to let this first week of the option cycle pass and take it from there. So far so good on that count. I will probably wait and see how the market reacts to this bailout before taking any positions. I'm looking to get long the gold shares at some point here as I've said before. I haven't had a decent signal one way or the other in the OEX for quite some time. Eventually that will change. Until then I'll try and sit on my hands.

The Dow lost 29 points today on average volume. Advance/declines were negative. It was pretty much a sideways type of day. All eyes are on the Federal government and the passage of a bailout bill. Of course it's being held up while they talk about it for a while. But something will get passed and we'll have to wait and see the markets reaction to that. Gold was up a couple bucks today and the XAU gained 1/2. ABX and GG were up about a buck each and NEM lost 1/2. Volume was good but lighter than it has been. I'd still like to get some gold share calls again for October but there hasn't been a pullback. Oil was weaker and the dollar stronger but GG and ABX continued higher. I'll try and be patient. GE lost 1/3 on good volume. No trades there for now but I'm leaning towards the calls. Mentally I'm doing OK, could have slept a bit longer. So it's a waiting game for now. Not the easiest thing in the world to do but that's where I'm at. If we continue lower in the OEX it will set up a buy signal by Monday. The data releases are taking a back seat to the ongoing debate about the bailout. Interesting times indeed. Technically the market could go either way here. We'll see. The gold shares are overbought but haven't pulled back as of yet. Perhaps they won't. I'm keeping an eye on them. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Continuing lower with the Dow off 161 points on good volume. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 negative. Waiting for the bailout package from Congress at this point. Summation index lower. Can't really say what is going to happen with the market at this point. It's all a guess as we are in uncharted territory. Anything could happen. Gold lost $17 on the futures but is coming back in the aftermarket. The XAU dropped 4 1/2. ABX and GG lost 3/4, while NEM fell 1 1/2. All had heavy volume again. We're overbought here and I would like to give the gold shares some time before getting long again. The options are full of premium with the volatility and length of time remaining in the October cycle. So it's a sit and wait game for now. GE lost 1 1/3 on good volume but not the crazy kind of volume we saw last week. I'll need to check the chart there. Could be signalling the overall market heading lower. Mentally I'm feeling OK, slept well enough. Well I'm at the point where I'll have to be patient for the gold shares here. The dollar is oversold and was a bit higher today but it could have more to go on the upside, hopefully. Oil pulled back too. The stochastic on the gold shares is overbought, so I would expect some type of retreat. But in this type of environment, anything can happen. Plenty of time, so there's no rush but the entry is going to have to be correct. So we'll see what happens.

The roller coaster ride continues as the Dow lost 372 points on heavy volume. Advance/declines were 4 to 1 negative. The volatility to the extreme continues. Was the end of last week just an expiration related event? Do we now go down to new lows from here? Summation index will turn back to the downside with todays action. I don't have the answers. We are in an unprecedented era for the markets. Time will tell where this all ends up. It's a tough trading environment out there but there is money to be made. Risk is high though. There's nothing wrong with waiting until things return to some semblance of normal. Gold took off to the upside by over $40 today. ABX up 3, GG up 4 and NEM up 2 1/2, all on heavy volume. Incredible moves of over 10% in one day again. I am looking to get some gold share calls again if we get some type of pullback. I really don't want to chase it here. The dollar got pounded today and oil was up over 10% as well. I'm trying not to worry about selling out of my gold position early because it's done and over with. You always have to make adjustments and see things where they are now, not yesterday. There's still money to be made in gold in my opinion. GE lost 40 cents on lighter volume than we've seen lately. The premium in the options is off the charts with all the movement lately. I'll have to stay on the sidelines for now there. Mentally I'm feeling good, slept well. The game plan for now is getting some gold share calls again on any pullback. I'm trying to be patient but you never know. The XAU/Gold ratio is still way out of proportion. It's in the buy zone and has been for weeks. Either gold has to come way down or the XAU has to rise. Gold does not look like it is going to drop anytime soon with all that is going on in the world today. So I'll look to the gold shares for now.

Today the US government changed the rules. It will now bail out everything and everybody in the name of... Really, I don't know. The Dow rallied on extreme volume, up 368 points. Advance/declines were 7 to 1 positive. What a wild week. This should turn the summation index back to the upside. It is hard to trade the indices when things get like this. In fact, it's basically impossible. The volatility is too much. More luck than skill. Gold lost over $30 on the futures, rallied a bit in the aftermarket. The XAU was higher by over 7 points though. ABX up 2 3/4, GG up 1 and NEM up 2. All on good volume. ABX is showing the most relative strength here. I put in an order for some GG calls, was not filled. I may switch to ABX. However I'm waiting for some type of pullback in the gold shares now. GE was up almost 2 on insanely heavy volume again. Too late for the calls here. Mentally I'm tired. Did not sleep much last night. It's been quite a week. Yesterdays volatility in gold led me to get out but there is still more room to go on the upside there in my opinion. The weekly charts on the gold shares look like they have put in a bottom. The weekly OEX chart has put in a hammer bottom on the candlesticks. So the end of the world for the indices has been averted or postponed. It's time for a needed break from all the market madness. I'll be checking things over the weekend and getting ready for Monday. But for now some rest.

Volatile days are upon us. The Dow rose 410 points today on what I expect was extremely heavy volume. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 positive. The market moved up a few hundred points in the last hour on the Treasury secretaries comments of another bailout. Bear market rally? My guess is that it was. A one day wonder until proven otherwise. Gold went crazy again, up $50 on the futures. However it began to sell off on the Treasury announcement. The XAU finished flat and the gold shares had one day reversals to the downside. ABX and GG were off on the day but the quotes are not reliable due to the volatility. Volume was the heaviest that I've ever seen it. NEM lost over 3 points. All the gold shares were higher early and closed much lower on the day. I dumped all my GG calls. Some had a 15% gain and the rest had an 85% gain. I was lucky to get out alive. That said I am looking to buy back the calls cheaper, perhaps even tomorrow. I don't think the rally in gold is over. GE was up 1 1/2 on insane volume again. I'm looking at the calls here on any type of pull back. It may be too late. Due to the volatility the options are very expensive. But I think getting long there will work. Mentally I'm tired and not feeling well. The markets don't care how you feel. It's been a crazy week so far and I suppose tomorrow will be no different. Expiration and we'll see what happens. I'll be checking things tonight but I think getting long gold again is the correct move at the moment.

Another decline today as the Dow lost 450 points on extremely heavy volume. It's a free fall. Advance/declines were over 12 to 1 negative at least. Summation index continuing lower. How low will the market go? Usually lower than you think. It looks like we will go down all the way into expiration at this point. You'd like to think there are some bargains out there but at the moment the world thinks every company is going under. They aren't but to tell where it all ends is impossible. Gold caught fire today as it finally became a flight to safety play. It rose $70 on the futures and continues higher in the aftermarket. The XAU rose over 10 points and is right at the daily down trend line. Another day like today and we will be through it which would be quite bullish. But it hasn't happened yet. ABX, GG and NEM all gained over 3 points on insane volume. It is a crazy time in the markets, I can't emphasize that enough. The GG calls have come all the way back from the dead and there is still over 4 weeks to go. However things can turn around and head back the other way overnight. That's what kind of game it has become. GE lost 1 1/2 on incredible volume. It's a panic sell for sure but you just don't know when it will stop. I would like to get some GE calls and am seriously looking at that as the next play. It's risky though but what isn't at this point? Mentally I'm tired again, did not sleep well. Really would like to get a good nights sleep. I've seen these kind of free falls in the overall market before. You don't want to get long too early. You also want to take the profits if you get any pretty quick. The volatility gets intense. As crazy as it sounds, it's kind of fun too. Well, at least it's not boring. We'll see about tomorrow.

Opened lower and closed higher for another one day reversal today. Not that it means anything in a market like this. The Dow was higher by 141 points on good volume. Advance/declines were negative. No follow through to the downside on a closing basis but these are crazy times. Fed stood pat on interest rates and the market rallied. Interest rates won't change the carnage that is happening at the moment. Things will change and be volatile day to day. I'm looking for weakness on Thursday but that is a guess. The sidelines are probably the best place to be at the moment. Risk is high. Gold lost around $6 but the XAU rose 2 1/2. The opposite action of yesterday. ABX up 3/4, GG up 1/2 and NEM up over a buck. Volume heavy again. The gold shares followed the overall market. Oil was down again and the dollar was stronger. Things just aren't following the normal patterns at the moment. Makes for tough trading. GG calls still in the red and probably not coming back. GE opened about $3 lower than where it closed. Amazing. It ended up 1/2 on insane volume again. I can't touch it at the moment in a market like this. Mentally I'm a bit tired, did not sleep well again. Expiration week and volatility at an extreme. I think we'll head back down this week before any stabilization but who knows? Trading in this type of environment is extremely risky. There will be better times to take chances. Yes, the profits now could come quickly but so could the losses. The normal technical analysis doesn't work when we get like this. There is nothing wrong with waiting for a better trading situation.

I'm not going to get into all the bailouts and bankruptcies. All you need to know is that we are in crash mode. The Dow lost 504 points today on what I'm guessing is extremely heavy volume. My volume figures are skewed again. Advance/declines were 15 to 1 negative. Extraordinary times are what these are. Summation index will be gapping lower and who knows how low we will go. Normal analysis just won't work now because it is a catastrophic event. Everything gets sold to raise capital. There will be opportunities to get things cheap. But you don't really know what will survive and what won't. The Fed meets tomorrow and what can they possibly do? It's beyond the level of interest rates, what is going on now. The sidelines is probably the best place to be unless you're short or own puts. Gold is a safe haven and rose over $20 again today. However the XAU didn't join the rise and lost 7 3/4. ABX and GG lost around 2 and NEM around 1. Cash must be raised and the gold shares are a way to raise it. The XAU/Gold ratio continues to be out of whack and I still think it has to get back to normal levels at some point. When that is, I don't know. GG calls still showing a loss but not as much as it would be without the crazy volatility. Nothing makes sense when the markets get like this. Fear overwhelms everything. GE lost 2 bucks on insane volume. It's a panic sell. Will GE go out of business too? I doubt it but who wants to step in and buy it here? Mentally I'm doing as good as can be expected. Did not sleep good last night though. Where do we go from here? I don't have the answers but I have seen collapses before. They don't last forever but they sure go fast when they are happening. Take it down all the way into expiration on Friday? It's possible. Gold rising and the gold shares falling? That's never a good sign of things to come. But who knows? In this type of market anything can and does happen. But usually, it's for the worse.

Once again we opened lower and fought our way back. The Dow was down 150 early and closed with a loss of 12 points. Volume was heavy and the advance/declines were positive. The market is trying to hold up in the face of bad news again. We are going to break one way or the other soon in my opinion. If we continue to the upside early next week I'm going to look at the OEX puts. It is a crazy and volatile time. Gold snapped back $20 today and the XAU rose 11 3/4. ABX and GG gained over 3 and NEM was up 2 1/2. Volume was heavy again. It is unprecedented to see these issues gain and lose 10% in just a day. The gold market had stretched so far to the downside that it is like a rubber band effect and now it is snapping back. Who knows how long or far it will go? We now have hammers on the weekly gold issue candlestick charts which implies higher prices unless we go right back down next week. The GG calls are still in the red but a day like today gives hope that the loss can be cut and something salvaged from this trade. But you never know. The dollar finally sold off today after reaching the 80 level of resistance. GE lost over 1 1/4 on extremely heavy volume. That doesn't bode well going forward if it serves as a proxy for the overall market. Mentally I'm feeling OK, slept well again. These are strange and volatile times in the markets. There are opportunities out there but there is also a lot of risk. Option expiration week is coming up. I really don't know how we have held up here so far but next week could get ugly if there is even more bad news. Perhaps there will be some announcements over the weekend. I'll check the charts over the weekend and get ready for what should prove a volatile week. But for now it's time for a break.

A one day reversal to the upside as we opened down over 150 points and closed up 165 on the Dow. Volume was heavy again as it has been a very busy week. Advance/declines were negative though, which has me not believing in this move. Short covering ahead of tomorrow is my guess. Volatility is king. I may try the OEX puts but it won't be until next week if at all. Gold continues its free fall, down $17 and continuing lower in the aftermarket. ABX, GG and NEM all gave back what they gained yesterday and the volume remains heavy. This has been a straight down market. At some point there will be a snap back rally and that is where I will dump the GG calls for a loss. Or perhaps there won't be. The Gold/XAU ratio has been blown out and I can't ever remember it staying like this for so long. I guess there is no reason gold couldn't just keep dropping because there hasn't been any support for quite a while. It is overdone to the downside most likely because of the tremendous dollar rally. We've come back to 80 there and that is where multi-year resistance is. I doubt it goes much higher from here. GE was up a touch on very heavy volume after being down over a buck early. Mentally I'm doing OK but could have slept better. Stuck in a losing trade and that is never a good thing. Almost expiration week and we'll see where the bias is. Inflation data and retail sales tomorrow so we'll see what happens.

The Dow ended up 37 points on heavy volume again. Advance/declines were positive. We were up over 100 but couldn't hold it in the last hour. I still get the feeling that we are heading lower here soon but I could be wrong. No trades in the OEX here and not much time left for the September option cycle. Gold was hammered down again today, off $30. It continues lower in the aftermarket. However the XAU rose 5 1/4. ABX, GG and NEM were all higher on heavy volume. That is a change from the carnage we've seen lately in the gold shares. This is most likely the bottom for the gold issues. I know I've said that before and been terribly wrong. But when the metal itself is tanking and the stocks are moving higher, you've got to take notice. We'll see what happens. GE lost a touch on good volume. Mentally I'm doing OK. Although I think we are heading lower, there really isn't a clear signal yet. I'll need to be careful since I am already stuck in the losing GG trades. Those trades will not be coming back and it's a cut the loss mode at this point. The Gold/XAU ratio is still out of whack, so I'd like to wait for that to find a reasonable level before closing out the GG trades. So we'll see. There will be opportunities in the OEX though. I'll keep my eyes open but have to be mindful of the risks with only a few days left in the option cycle. Speed will be important. Paying attention will be paramount. Trade numbers and unemployment claims tomorrow. Inflation data on Friday. It should be volatile.

It's a crazy market as the Dow lost 278 points on very heavy volume. And it's only Tuesday. Advance/declines were 6 to 1 negative. They tried their best to keep things up yesterday on heavy volume but it didn't work. It has the feel of a market that is going to fall apart. Summation index should turn to the downside here. I don't know what is going on but the selling continues. Gold got clobbered, off $10 on the futures and another $10 in the aftermarket. The XAU lost 11 3/4. ABX and GG off over 2 points. NEM shed over 3. Volume was extremely heavy. I have not seen anything like this downdraft in the gold shares before. The Gold/XAU ratio is in record territory. Carnage. The GG calls are dead. I bought some shares of HL today. I know, I must be crazy. Will the gold shares just go to zero? I don't want to say no but... It's a crazy game. GE lost a buck on heavy volume, reversing yesterdays gains. Mentally I'm doing as well as can be expected. Of course I should have gotten some OEX puts this morning but did not. Staying in a losing trade is costing me more than it should. I have to focus on what I'm in already, which takes away from trying other opportunities. That is something that I really need to work on. In retrospect I should have dumped these GG calls long ago. It seems as though I am making the exact same mistake as the previous trade involving GG. That's never a good sign. What happens tomorrow? Stay tuned.

OK we have a bailout. The US government went in over the weekend to save Fannie and Freddie from themselves. The Dow soared 290 points on very heavy volume. Advance/declines were about 2 to 1 positive. I'd like to say that the decline is over but I believe otherwise. The markets are acting completely out of whack. I still think we will break down from the lows of the summer. I am looking to buy some OEX puts before Thursday. That is the game plan for the OEX at the moment. Could change at anytime. Gold opened higher again and couldn't hold on. It finished unchanged while the gold shares got killed again. The XAU lost 5 1/3. ABX and GG shed another 1 1/2, while NEM lost 1/2. All on heavy volume. It's a broken record to the downside here. All my GG calls are under water. Either gold is going to go way down here or the gold shares are going to have quite a rally. I cannot explain what is happening here with the gold stocks. They have really fallen apart. The dollar sold off early and came all the way back with a vengeance. It's a flight to safety in my opinion and who knows what happens next? At this rate the gold stocks will all be going to zero. GE had a great day, up over a buck on heavy volume. Maybe the market just rallies from here according to GE. I don't believe it yet. Mentally I'm a bit tired, up early and not a good nights sleep. There are things happening in the markets at the moment that I don't have an explanation for. If I had any common sense, I would get out and step aside for a while until things calm down. What normally works for me in the markets, isn't working now. You always have to make adjustments. Whether it's a worldwide margin call or something else, I'm not privy to the information. The technicals aren't working. I don't think the XAU can get any worse from here but I said that a couple of weeks ago too. Gold and oil have stabilized lately but the shares of those two continue to plummet. We'll see where the markets take us tomorrow.

It was another reversal day but this time to the upside as the Dow was off 150 points early, turned around and ended the day up 32. Advance/declines were just about even and the volume was good. We got oversold and have bounced. I don't think that it's anything more than that. The employment report was weak as expected and I guess we got some short covering after the initial sell off. Perhaps we will set up for the next leg down next week. But who knows? Volatility has returned. Gold opened much higher and closed little changed. Oversold and staying there. The XAU had a fractional gain. ABX, GG and NEM were up a touch or unchanged on heavy volume. The first GG calls are in the red and the second are unchanged. I still think it's a buying opportunity for the gold shares here. That said, in this kind of market I'd be happy with break even at this point. Oil is still falling and the dollar continues higher. So the fundamental picture for gold remains negative at the moment. GE was up a bit on average volume. Mentally I'm doing OK. Not exactly sure where we go from here but the downside seems to be the path of least resistance. But we could be setting up for a nice rally in the second half of this month. We'll see. There were not any buyers for anything until today and my guess was that it was only short covering. But I could be wrong. It's time for the weekend, a check of the charts and a break.

Down hard on the day as the Dow loses 345 points on heavy volume. Advance/declines were over 5 to 1 negative. Most likely the summation index is turning down after today. It feels like another worldwide margin call as everything is being sold to raise cash. How long this will last is anybodies guess. We are getting short term oversold but aren't there yet. Gold lost $5 today but the XAU continues weak, off 5 1/2 points. ABX, GG and NEM were all lower with NEM leading the way almost $2 lower. Volume was heavy again. I bought some more GG calls for October. This didn't work the last time I tried it but the gold shares are so blown out here I had to give it another try. The original GG calls are under water. I think that the gold shares are a screaming buy here. We are seeing a flight to the US dollar on the fear factor. Eventually that should work its way to gold. We'll see. GE lost over 3/4 on good volume. I'm looking at October calls there at some point. Mentally I'm doing OK, did not sleep that well. So it is hard to tell exactly what is going on here at the moment. We had a huge reversal on Tuesday and it has proven to be valid. Everything is being sold. Could it be the beginning of a deflationary period for assets? I don't know. I usually go on the technicals or at least try to. Employment report tomorrow and I can't expect that to be robust. We'll have to see the reaction to it. Perhaps we will remain weak to the September expiration. But I certainly don't know. Tomorrow should be interesting.

We were down for most of the day but came back in the last hour to finish up 15 points. Advance/declines were even and the volume was heavy. Summation index still going higher. I think we are marking time until Friday. What happens then is anybodies guess. We could go either way at this point. There isn't a clear signal. I'll be watching and waiting. Gold lost a couple bucks today but the XAU dropped over 4 3/4. ABX, GG and NEM all lost 1 1/2 on heavy volume. There is liquidation of commodity stocks going on in a big way. A commodity hedge fund has failed. I think it's a good buying opportunity but technically the charts look like there is more to go on the downside. The GG calls are now losers. Of course I'm not pleased that I didn't dump them last week but I still think it will be OK with all the time that's left. But I could be wrong and often am. Oil and the dollar didn't do much today. GE was flat on light volume. Mentally I'm doing OK. Volume is back in the market, all the players have returned. I expect to see some fireworks on Friday. Which way we go here is the question. European bank meetings tomorrow. That could affect the dollar. I'll stay with the GG calls for a bit more but anything could happen. So we'll get through tomorrow and go from there.

It was a wild way to start the week as the Dow was up almost 250 early on, only to close with a loss of 27 points. Advance/declines were positive but the overall market was lower. Volume was good. It is a one day reversal to the downside but this market has been bouncing around for some time now. I'm on the sidelines with the OEX for now. Gold got clobbered, down $25 and it was lower than that. The dollar was higher and oil lost over $5. The XAU lost 10 points. ABX, GG and NEM all down around $2, with GG leading the way off 2 1/2. Volume was heavy, which isn't a good sign going forward for the bullish case. My GG calls are right back where I bought them. The price gapped down on the open, passing my stop loss price so the order wasn't filled. I'm leaving the order open for now but I might cancel it before the employment report on Friday. In retrospect, I should have been out of this thing last week but the stochastic didn't roll over until today. I might just hold it until October so we'll see. GE was up 40 cents on good volume. Perhaps it is saying that the market will be OK here. That's a guess. Mentally I'm doing OK, slept well enough. Questions remain about this market with todays action. There really hasn't been a decent trend in some time. We had the extended down trend and have moved sideways to slightly higher since. It's a tough trading environment. Plenty of time in the September cycle though. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

We ended the month on a down note as the Dow lost 171 points. Volume was light as the long weekend begins. Advance/declines were almost 2 to 1 negative. I don't know how much emphasis you can put on the action this week. The volume wasn't there all week. However the summation index continues to the upside and that has to be respected. Gold was off a couple bucks and the XAU lost 1 3/4. ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional losses on light volume. I still think I'm going to get stopped out of the GG calls. Either that or I'm going to have to sell them next week. We'll see. GE lost 60 cents on light volume. Mentally I'm doing OK, slept better than lately. Not much else to say on the last trading day of August. As usual I'll go over the charts this weekend and try and come up with some sort of game plan for next week. It will be good to have an extra day to think things over and figure out what to do from here. For now, it's time for a break.

More room to the upside as the Dow gained 213 points on better volume. Advance/declines were over 3 to 1 positive. Summation index back to the upside. Short covering? End of the month movement? Beginning of a sustained up move? Plenty of questions. The volume wasn't that good normally but it is the last week of August. Long weekend almost upon us. Gold was up $4 but was much higher early in the day. The XAU had the same price pattern and ended down a 1/4. ABX, GG and NEM ended up slightly down to flat on light volume. The pattern for the gold stocks today was the same as it's been for most of the week. Opening higher and then selling off throughout the day. Basically the gold shares haven't been able to hold their gains. That doesn't bode well going forward. We're getting overbought here as well. My guess at this point is that I will get stopped out. We'll see. GE gained 60 cents on light volume. No trades there for now. Mentally I'm doing OK, haven't been sleeping good lately. I really don't know if this weeks market action is setting up for a fall or if we are going to get to 620 soon on the OEX. Sometimes what happens in September is that we are strong in the first half of the month and then weak in the second half. Or vice versa. The breadth has been very good lately. What's been missing is the volume. That is why it is hard to trust it at the moment. End of the month tomorrow and we'll go from there.

To the upside today as the Dow gained 90 points on light volume. Advance/declines were 3 to 1 positive. Hard to make much of this weeks action but today looked good for the bulls. I think we'll meander into the weekend but that's a guess. Next week it'll be back to business. Gold rose about $5 today and the XAU gained 3 3/4. ABX and NEM gained a buck, with GG up 3/4. All had light volume and all are approaching short term overbought territory. The GG call trade continues to be positive. It will be a tricky time trying to get out of this thing with the most profit. And I still like it on a longer term basis. I'm thinking about just holding for the long term but the stop loss order remains in place. We'll see. GE was flat on light volume. Mentally I'm feeling better with a better nights sleep. End of the month coming up. The dollar bounced around and ended lower. Oil was up a couple of dollars. Both were supportive for gold. It may seem as though I've been posting a lot about gold lately but it's where I see opportunity at the moment. The OEX has been volatile and choppy. That's a tough trading environment. There hasn't been a clear signal there for me in some time. That will change but it hasn't yet. So I have to focus on what I'm looking at. It changes of course but for now it's the gold shares.

The Dow gained 26 points on light volume. Advance/declines were positive. No downside follow through and that was a positive. It felt more like summer in the markets today. That could be the story for the rest of the week. Gold moved up a couple bucks and the XAU gained a 1/2. ADX and GG were flat, while NEM rose 1/2. Volume was light again. Oil was up a touch and the dollar was stronger. The GG calls are losing time premium as we drift. I've got a stop loss order in. The stochastic looks like it could roll over here earlier than expected. If it does than I'm out and I'll look to buy them back next week. The other scenario would be that we continue to rally here in GG but that doesn't look like it will happen this week. But you never know. GE lost a dime on light volume. Perhaps I'll take a look at the September calls there. If I had the guts I would strongly look at some OEX calls here. But I don't have a clear signal yet. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired, did not sleep well last night. Trying to do the right thing in the GG trade. The stop loss order eliminates some of the risk, which is important. However there is plenty of time for that trade to work. We're still oversold on a weekly basis. One of my thoughts is that there could be some selling in GG as we close the month and losing positions are eliminated. But that's a guess. Technically it could be rolling over here, short term. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

A downer Monday as the Dow lost 242 on very light volume. Advance/declines were over 3 to 1 negative. No buyers today and a thin market. The summer doldrums did not appear this year. Where we go from here is anybodies guess. It's a tough trading environment. No trades in the OEX on the horizon for now. Gold lost around 8 bucks on the futures. The XAU dropped around 1 3/4. ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional losses on light volume. I still like the volume pattern in the gold shares but that could change overnight. GG calls still in the black. I'm going to try and wait for the stochastic to reach overbought territory. That is the plan. It may roll over before we get there though. It's never easy. GE lost 80 cents on light volume. Nothing doing there for now. Mentally I'm a bit tired, did not sleep well. I was hoping for a slow week but that doesn't seem to be the case with todays action, price wise. A lot of people will be on vacation this week so I don't really know how much weight you can put on the moves. I would not expect a complete collapse here but you never know. I doubt it but that doesn't mean anything. I'm going to try and stick to the plan with regards to the GG call trade but I'm ready to get out if that's what the market is saying. So we'll see what happens.

A summer Friday rally as the Dow gained 198 points on light volume. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 positive. Are we heading to 620 on the OEX? Perhaps but there is still a long way to go there. The summation index should be back to the upside after today. No trades in mind for the OEX until we see a decent signal. Gold lost ground today, down $5 on the futures and twice that in the after market. The XAU lost 5 points. ABX, GG and NEM were all lower. ABX and GG each shed more that a point. The volume was lighter than lately. The GG calls are still showing a profit. The volume pattern is positive for the upside for now. But we know how that can change. The dollar had a good day and oil gave back everything it gained yesterday. I'm going to look for slow trading in gold next week. GE was up 1/3 on light volume. Would have liked to see it higher since we gained almost 200 points. Mentally I'm feeling OK, slept well enough. So where do we go from here? I suppose that I'm still going to wait for GG to get to the top of the stochastic range before I dump the calls. Unless something dramatic occurs. Perhaps we will take next week to build a better base there. I'll wait on the OEX. I'll be checking the charts over the weekend. For now it's Friday, at the end of summer and time for a break.

We opened lower and closed higher for a one day reversal in the Dow. It gained 13 points on average volume. Advance/declines were negative though. The news wasn't all that great and oil gained over 5 bucks. However the market was able to shrug that off and close up on the day. We broke the daily up trend line a few days ago on the indices but we haven't really seen a sustained down move. I don't exactly know what to make of it so I'm on the sidelines for OEX trading. Feels like it wants to move higher. Gold had a stellar day, up over $20. The dollar was weak today and oil helped support the up move. The XAU climbed almost 8 1/2. That is more of what I've been looking for. ABX, GG and NEM all posted good gains, with ABX and GG both up over $2 on the day. Volume was heavy and continues to confirm the move higher. The GG calls are doing well for now. When to exit is the next question. I would like to wait until the slow stochastic reaches its peak for the gold shares. It's not there yet. GE was up a touch on light volume. Nothing doing there for now either. Mentally I'm doing alright, didn't feel all that well last night. Trying to figure out just what the market is trying to say here. The news continues to be lousy but we haven't sold off that much. There are buyers out there. I suppose I will continue to wait for the OEX to reach the weekly down trend line at about 615-620. Summation index is moving sideways. No clear signal but like I said, it has the feel of a market that wants to go higher, for whatever reasons. We'll see what happens.

An interesting day today as the Dow gained 69 points on good volume. Advance/declines were positive. Bad news from the mortgage industry but we managed to move higher. We were a bit short term oversold but not enough to trade off of. Some data out tomorrow and that's about it for the week. The day was choppy, moving up and down a couple of times. No trades in mind right now. Gold was flat on the day but the XAU gained 2 1/2. Most of it was in FCX. ABX, GG and NEM all had fractional gains on very good volume. I'm seeing what I'd like to see here. The gold shares moving higher with good volume even when the metal itself doesn't do much. That said, we are overbought and a pull back in the gold shares would not be a surprise. The GG calls are still in the black. GE was flat on light volume. Mentally I'm feeling OK. Just trying to get through the rest of the month really. What I mean by that is we've had such a volatile summer this year, that I'd like to see things slow down before everybody comes back after Labor day. One of the facts of the game is that you always have to make adjustments. The analysis never stops and change is the norm. Usually in the summer you can take it easy every now and then because things slow down. That hasn't been the case this year. So if we could move sideways here for a couple of weeks, I'd welcome that. However the market goes where it wants to. That's another undeniable fact.

The Dow lost 130 points on average volume. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 negative. We have broken the up trend line from the beginning of the rally in July. The McClellan oscillator will be moving into negative territory and the summation index should begin to roll over. We can always snap back to the up trend line in the days ahead. We could always just turn around and head higher also, the way the market has been so volatile. No OEX trades for now. Gold was up $11 on the futures and the XAU rose 3 1/4. ABX, GG and NEM were all higher with GG leading the way, up 1 1/3. Volume was good and that is a positive going forward. I would have liked to have seen the XAU gain more ground in the past 2 sessions but we'll take what we can get. The GG calls are showing a profit. I would not be surprised to see GG move sideways for a while and that would not necessarily be a bad thing. GE lost about 1/2 on light volume. Was lower earlier. Mentally I feel OK, slept OK. Bad news on the inflation data today but we didn't exactly fall apart in the indices. We did break that up trend line though, so we'll see. I doubt gold will continue straight up here, as it did on the decline. Base building is probably in order. I'll have to figure out what to do with the GG calls. At this point I'm leaning towards selling them if a certain profit target is hit and hopefully buying them back again cheaper later on. We'll see.

It was a downer Monday as the Dow lost 180 points. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 negative and the volume was light. Expiration hangover? Could be. We are back at the multi-week up trend line so we need to hold here or things change. Inflation data out tomorrow but like I said before, it's a slow week for data. Gold had a nice bounce, up $13 but the gold shares didn't follow. The XAU was up only 2 points. ABX, GG and NEM had gains between 1/2 and 3/4. Volume was good for a summer Monday though. MY GG calls are where I bought them. I still think I am a bit early there. The dollar didn't do much today. GE lost 40 cents on light volume. Mentally I'm feeling OK, slept pretty good. I think we may be in a for a 2 week lull here. Which makes managing the GG trade slow torture if I'm correct. There's entering the trade, managing the trade and exiting the trade. I would have liked to see the gold shares move much higher today considering the move in the precious metal. That fact that they didn't suggests that a base building period may be upon us. Or maybe it's just a rest from the recent collapse. Time will tell. I'm out to October but there will be time decay regardless. Looking at things over the weekend makes me think that I'm early there. So we'll see. I'm still going to wait for the OEX to hit 620 to short it, if we get there. Holding up right here is key.

A somewhat mild expiration as the Dow gained 44 points on light volume. Advance/declines were about even. It finally felt like a Friday in the summer. OEX at 599 and no trades on the horizon there. I really think we will slow down until after Labor day. But I could be wrong. Gold continues its free fall, down another 22 bucks. The XAU lost 5 1/4. ABX, GG and NEM were all off 1 1/3 on heavy volume. My overnight order for GG calls was filled. I think I'm a bit early here. There will be a divergence on the RSI if we hold up here but the gold market has the feel of something that wants to continue lower. Perhaps I should have been more patient. I'm out to October so we'll see what happens. I may just sell out and try again at the end of the month. We'll see. GE was up 1/3 on light volume. Mentally I'm doing OK, did not sleep that well. Well, I'm back in another trade and it feels a bit too early. But the timing is never exact anyway. The September option cycle has an extra week so that should keep the premiums a bit higher. Not a lot of data out next week so it could be pretty slow. The volume selling gold has been pretty heavy and I'm wondering how long that can last. Usually longer than you think. The macro picture has changed there also with the recent dollar strength. So why even try the calls? You've got to go against the grain sometimes. The dollar has already rallied. When everyone knows about it, it's too late. When nobody wants something is when you have to want it. So we'll see what happens. I'll be checking the charts over the weekend. For now though, it's time for a break.

The up trend line is holding for now as the Dow gained 83 points on what looks like lighter volume. Advance/declines were positive. Expiration tomorrow. Still in an uptrend as the news today was clearly negative but we went higher anyway. Summation index continues to the upside. I'm thinking things could slow down a bit beginning next week but it hasn't happened yet this summer. Gold was back down over $15 today. The XAU lost 6 1/2. ABX and NEM lost around 1 1/2, while GG dropped over 2. Volume was good but not as much as on the rise yesterday. I'm putting in an overnight order for GG calls again. I really think we are at the moment of truth for gold longer term here. We either hold up and continue the multi-year uptrend or we break down and the game has changed. There is a possibility that the game has changed with a macro shift into the US dollar. We are at a multi-year weekly downtrend line in the dollar index. If we break through on good volume, that will be the signal that things have changed. It could happen. GE gained 1/4 on light volume. Mentally I feel OK, slept good enough. Tomorrow could be an interesting day as well. I'm thinking that the gold shares could continue to fall off here and retest the earlier week lows. We'll see. They could also blow out to the downside and signal a continuation to much lower levels. Time will tell. I'm still going to wait for the OEX to get to 620 before I attempt anything there. On to expiration.

Continuing to the downside as the Dow lost 109 points on average volume. Advance/declines were negative. The Dow was weaker than the overall market. We also came down and touched the near term up trend line and bounced off. So we need to hold on here or the trend will change. Gold came back to the upside by $16 and continues higher in the after market. The XAU gained 8 1/4. ABX, GG and NEM were all higher by 1 3/4 on heavy volume. I'll say that the bottom is on for the gold shares. None of my calls were filled. That's usually the case when the trades are going to work. I suppose I should have made adjustments but it's early for the move. I'll look to get long as we work our way back to test the lows, if that occurs. Oil was higher today too. Another missed opportunity in gold but it's part of the game. GE lost 40 cents on light volume. It lends support to the theory that the decline here isn't going to last. But we'll see. Mentally I'm feeling OK, didn't sleep all that well. So where do we go from here? I will look to get some OEX puts when we get to 620 on the index. It could take a few weeks or it may not happen at all. I will look to get some ABX or GG calls on a retest of the recent lows. So there's a couple of ideas in the works. I'm not saying that I won't change my mind depending on market circumstances. September has an extra week on the option cycle so there's no hurry. We'll see how we close out expiration week.

The Dow lost 140 points today on OK volume. Advance/declines were about 2 to 1 negative. So much for the early week positive expiration bias. We're still in an uptrend though. Oil was lower today and that didn't help. No trades here for now. Gold lost another $13 but is coming back in the aftermarket. The XAU gained 4 1/4. ABX and NEM both up 3/4, while GG rose 1 1/2. They all had good volume. I'd like to think we are putting in a bottom here. I had some orders for calls in but they were not filled. I'm leaving in some overnight orders. The options didn't move much even with the gains of today and that has me puzzled. The gold shares are still very oversold. I think it's worth taking a shot here but it may just be a dead cat bounce. GE lost 1/4 on light volume. Although I haven't traded GE in a while, I still feel it's a good proxy for the overall market. Mentally I feel pretty good, slept well. I'm still making a case in my mind for the gold shares here. They have fallen so far, so fast that I have to believe a decent bounce is going to occur. I could be wrong. And I could be late. I'm going to try not to chase things here. There's also the possibility that we just move sideways for quite some time on the gold indices. 3 days before expiration. I'm also thinking that perhaps things will slow down in the next couple of weeks before Labor day. It hasn't happened yet this summer so we'll see.

More room on the upside for Monday as the Dow gained 48 points. The advance/declines were positive and the volume was good. The positive expiration bias seem to be in effect for now. My thinking remains that the OEX could get to 620 before it stalls. We're around 605 at the moment. Money continues to flow out of other instruments and into stocks. The summation index continues higher also. Gold is in free fall. It dropped $35 today as the dollar remains strong. The XAU fell almost 8 points. ABX and NEM lost over 2 points each and GG shed another buck. Volume was extremely heavy again. Oversold and staying there. I did put in a couple of buy orders for calls but they were not filled. Trying to catch a falling knife here? Probably. You really don't know when the carnage in gold will end. However the dollar has reached the point I expected resistance to come in. I'm going out to October on the calls. The gold indices have reached their 200 day moving averages on a weekly basis. Yes they could just blow right through them but I expect some type of attempt at support to surface here considering how oversold we are. But I could be wrong. It might just be an utter collapse. Gold is following oil and we are just about at the up trend line in oil from months ago as well. Support there should come in at 110 and we are around 115. I will check things again overnight and perhaps leave in some overnight orders. GE was up 1/3 on average volume. Nothing doing there. Mentally I'm doing OK, could have slept better. Not in a hurry to make a trade but I think there's an opportunity here. My guess is the overall market should remain positive for the beginning of the week at least. However I'm looking at the gold shares again. I think going out an extra month on the options will work to my benefit. The media is hyping how strong the dollar is all of a sudden and that usually is at least good for a move in the opposite direction. Dollar strength has helped stocks as money looks to invest in US assets of late. It's also taken gold and the gold shares down in a straight line. That won't last forever, will it?

Up and down we go. Back to the upside for the Dow as it gained 301 points on what looks to be average volume. Advance/declines were a bit over 2 to 1 positive. Still moving higher but this is a tough trading market. Positive expiration bias in effect? Could be. I think it has more to do with the dollar rally as investors look for dollar denominated assets. But that's just a guess. Gold continues lower, down around $15. The gold shares continue their free fall with the XAU off 6 2/3. ABX and NEM off a buck. GG down over 2. Volume heavy again. It's been an incredible drop for the gold shares. I'm still looking at going out to the October calls, perhaps next week. Oil has tanked, off another $5 today. The commodities are seeing money flee and it's finding a home in the stock market. The stronger dollar is the main reason in my opinion. We are just about at what I consider resistance for the dollar. So the time for the gold shares could be upon us. Or not. GE was up a buck on average volume. Its pattern is following the overall market here. Mentally I'm feeling OK, slept well. We have seen a tremendous shift in the money flows in the past few weeks. The question is how long can it go on? Usually, longer than you think. I'm going to have to check the longer term charts carefully over the weekend. No summer doldrums this year. But it's the weekend and time for a break. August in summertime.

Back to the downside now as the Dow lost 225 points on good volume. Advance/declines were 3 to 1 negative as we got the opposite of Tuesdays action. It makes for a tough trading market. I guess that's why I'm on the sidelines at the moment. Time for the OEX calls again? I certainly don't know and don't think it's worth the risk at the moment. Patience is what I'm calling for. It isn't easy. Gold lost $5 and the XAU fell 1 1/2. ABX and GG were both off 1/2, while NEM eeked out a small gain. Here is where I'd like to make a play and getting long is my choice. However I'm trying to wait until the dollar stops going up as it did again today. I really think that gold is done on the downside here for the most part. However I could be wrong and have been lately. GE lost 40 cents on light volume. No hurry there to try anything. I keep an eye on it as a proxy for the overall market but it isn't the greatest trading vehicle. Mentally I'm feeling OK. Doing my best to not make any stupid moves before expiration next Friday. But you never know. I don't see any compelling short term set-ups at this point in time. Yes, I'm looking at the gold shares again but I'd like to go out to the October options and they're expensive. So it's a wait and see type of approach for now. As I've said I even might wait until Labor Day to make the next trade but that is a long way off. Discipline isn't easy and it's not for everybody. But if you want to succeed in the game, you've got to have it. So I'm going to try and wait things out here and see where that leads.

A bit of follow through to yesterdays big gain as the Dow was up 40 points on average volume. Advance/declines were positive. We were off about 100 early in the day. Money continues to rotate into stocks and the trend for now is higher. Summation index continues higher. The OEX is at 597 and I think we could get to 620 before stiffer resistance sets in. Gold futures lost a couple bucks today but the XAU rose 5 1/2 points. An oversold bounce was due, no doubt about that. However the gold shares were mixed with ABX closing down on the day, while GG and NEM both managed about a gain of a point. Volume was heavy. The dollar continues higher here and gold probably won't do much to the upside while that trend is in place. But I am keeping an eye on things here because we could be forming a bottom in the gold shares. I'm going to give it some time though. GE was off 1/4 on light volume. Nothing doing there. Mentally I feel fine, slept well. Not much time to go in the August option cycle and I don't see any near term trades on the horizon. September has an extra week for the options and premiums will reflect that. I'm not trying to push anything here at the moment. If a good signal for the OEX appears, I'll trade it. Otherwise I may just lay low until Labor Day when all the major players are back. It's been a crazy summer but there's a chance things will settle down in August. Or not.

An explosion to the upside as the Dow gained 332 points on good volume. Advance/declines were 3 to 1 positive. It looks like we are breaking through the daily downtrend line today. That's a positive. The Fed left rates unchanged and the statement was viewed as bullish. No chance to buy the OEX calls now. This summer has been more volatile than any I can remember in recent history. No doldrums this year. Gold continues to get pummeled, down another twenty bucks or so today. Money is moving out of commodities and into equities. ABX, GG and NEM all lost at least 2/12 with ABX down 3. The XAU dropped 7 3/4. Volume was very heavy. No support levels are holding. It is an incredible ride down. The dollar is continuing higher for now and I think that is the main catalyst for the downside move in commodities. GE had a good day, up a buck on average volume. I'm not looking at doing anything there. Mentally I'm doing OK, slept alright. No trades in the immediate future as it stands now. I'm in standby mode, waiting for a decent signal. I'm not going to press things here after the recent debacle. So it's time to be patient with a wait and see attitude.

Monday in the summer as the Dow lost 42 points on lighter volume. Advance/declines were about 2 to 1 negative. The overall market was weaker than the Dow. Fed meeting tomorrow. Everyone expects no change in rates. No good signal one way or the other for the OEX. I'm on the sidelines. Gold dropped another $15. The XAU fell over 7 1/2 points. It has been an incredible straight fall down for the gold shares. They keep getting more oversold. ABX, GG and NEM all down, with the latter two dropping over a point apiece. At some point there will be a snap back rally. These shares are not going to go to zero. I am amazed that they have fallen this much in such a short period of time. But I'm not going to try and guess what will happen. I'm still licking my wounds from the last attempts at trying to call a bottom here. GE lost a touch on light volume. Nothing doing there for now. Mentally I'm doing OK. Less than 2 weeks left for the August option cycle. We should get some movement off the Fed statement tomorrow. Perhaps if we continue to see weakness into the middle of the week I'll get some OEX calls for expiration week. Summation index continues to the upside, which supports the long side. So we'll see what happens with the Fed tomorrow.

Friday in the summer as the Dow lost 51 points. I'm getting a bad data feed on the advance/declines and volume figures. Unemployment rose and we lost more jobs in July. Doesn't seem to be bothering the market that much. No OEX trades for now. Gold lost 5 bucks and the gold shares continued to get hammered. The XAU lost 6 1/4. ABX, GG and NEM all down on good volume, with ABX leading the way off 1 3/4. I thought that the bottom was put in this week but I was wrong again. The selling is relentless as money is just moving out of gold and into the stock market. Or so it seems. The buy signal reading for the gold shares is the highest that I can remember. But it isn't working. I'll need to check the longer term XAU charts this weekend. It could be the end of the bull move there but I don't really think so. GE was flat on light volume. Not trades there but perhaps I'll be looking at some calls there. Mentally I'm doing as well as can be expected following huge losses. It isn't affecting me as it usually does. I'm not really mad at myself. I'm just moving on. Risk control is something that I'll have to address and work on for the next trade. I don't have anything in mind at the moment and I may just take August off as far as trades go. I'm going to check things out over the weekend and go from there. It's time for a break and some relaxation.

Back to the downside as the Dow lost 205 points on good volume. Advance/declines were about 2 to 1 negative. We were down most of the day but sold off in the last hour when Big All started flapping his gums. Volume has been lighter on the down days lately though. That's it for July. The volatility never ceases. It isn't easy out there. Gold gained $10 but was up double that early. The XAU lost 3 points. GG reported earnings and they didn't have any. They reported a loss. The gold shares were higher early and all sold off. ABX and NEM were both up 1 1/2 and finished negative. Even GG was up a buck at one point but ended up down 1 1/2. I got blown out. The first GG trade lost over 90% and the next one lost over 80%. The first trade was the biggest loss of the year. Ouch. No discipline and throwing good money after bad. No excuses there, just stupidity. GE lost 3/4 on average volume. Mentally I'm doing OK, could have slept better. Still getting a buy signal for the gold shares and have for 2 weeks while they've sold off. Oversold and staying there like we just saw on the stock indices. They can go lower than you think. After a couple trades like I've just had, you need to regroup. Unless I get a really good signal in the OEX, I'll be on the sidelines for a while. I'm still a believer in the gold shares eventually but after today, I'll be sitting it out for a while. That's what I'll be trying to do. The battle is always internal. The markets are just there, you decide what and when to trade. So I think the right thing to do at this point is to step aside and try to regain the discipline that has recently been lost. Employment report tomorrow and the start of August. At this rate, anything goes.

Continuing higher as the Dow tacked on another 186 points on good volume. Advance/declines were almost 2 to 1 positive. Perhaps that's it for retesting the low. Seems like it at this point. This summer has seen some incredible volatility in the indices so far. You've got to be quick and make the adjustments. I can't say that I've been up for the challenge yet. Gold lost around $14 on the December contract. However we had a turnaround in the gold shares as the XAU gained almost 2 points. We sold off hard early and that should be the lows of this move in the gold shares. ABX and GG were off over 3 points early. They both ended off fractionally on very heavy volume. NEM was flat. They've formed hammers on the daily candlestick charts. Earnings out for ABX and GG tomorrow. I'll need to get out of the GG calls. Today was the day to be buying them but I didn't wait long enough. GE was up 1/2 on average to light volume. Would have liked to see it move higher with the nice move in the Dow today. Mentally I'm doing OK, slept well. Patience and discipline are required to be successful in the game. I really need more. I easily could have waited on the gold shares but didn't. I also should have already taken the loss on the first GG purchase. As usual, the only fight going on here is with myself and not the markets. I do think the gold shares will be setting up for a nice gain later on. Perhaps it even started today but I think we need more time to form a bottom. I could be wrong. We'll see what happens with the earnings tomorrow.

Back to the upside as the sellers disappeared for the day. The Dow gained 267 points, wiping out yesterdays loss. Volume was a bit higher than yesterday. Advance/declines were about 3 to 1 positive. Not oversold anymore. Tough to trade when it gets like this. I'm going to have to wait for a decent signal to trade the OEX. Plenty of time in the option cycle. Gold lost around $10 today and the XAU fell 4 points. ABX, GG and NEM all lost more than a point on decent volume. I bought some more GG calls. It is strictly an earnings play. Earnings are out on Thursday morning and we are so oversold here that I am expecting a pop to the upside. ABX reports then as well. This has to be a short term play because the fundamentals for gold here have changed. The dollar is rallying and the flight to safety caused by the recent stock market sell-off has ended. I do think that gold will look like a better long trade in the next couple of months. GE was up 3/4 but the volume was light again. Mentally I'm tired, did not sleep well. The risk in this new GG trade isn't that much, money wise. I think it has a good chance of working out if I keep the short term time frame in mind. That's not to say that we couldn't just keep on falling here in gold. We could. I should be out of both of these trades on Thursday, Friday at the latest depending on breaking news. We'll see.

No buyers on Monday as the Dow lost 240 points. Volume was light as of lately and the advance/declines were 2 to 1 negative. Moving to oversold territory short term. Perhaps a chance at some OEX calls coming up. A little more downside should do it. I do think the recent lows will hold up here but I could be wrong. Gold didn't do much today, up a touch. The XAU managed almost a half point gain but was up 5 early. ABX up 1/3, GG up 2/4 and NEM down 1/4. All on unspectacular volume. Couldn't hold the gains even with the market dropping, flight to safety factor and that's not a good sign. I guess I'm holding on to the GG calls until the earnings Thursday morning. I'd still like to get some more but... Probably best to take the loss and move on. GE lost a buck on light volume. That really tells the story, the volume. No interest here late in July. Perhaps that will change tomorrow but they're just weren't any buyers today. Mentally I'm feeling as good as can be expected I guess. The gold shares are oversold but maybe they just stay that way. Tough call. I'll check things over again tonight. End of the month coming up as well. It wouldn't hurt to tread lightly I suppose, considering I'm holding a losing position. Sometimes it just doesn't work out and this is one of those times.

No follow through to the downside today as the Dow gained 22 points. Advance/declines were positive and the volume looks to be summer Friday light. We have bounced and fell back. There isn't really anything going on here at the moment in my opinion. Sideways to higher should be the norm unless we go down and retest the lows. If we retest the lows, it will be a chance to try some OEX calls. If not, I guess it's the sidelines. Gold was up about $5 today and the XAU gained 1 1/4. ABX was flat, GG off a touch and NEM up a touch. Volume was light as the interest in the gold shares has waned. I did put in an order to dump the GG calls but it wasn't filled. I also thought hard about buying some other GG calls but didn't. I think the underlying theme for owning gold has changed as the market stabilizes and the dollar gets a bit stronger. That will change but not at the moment. Earnings for ABX and GG coming up. Buy signal still in effect and strong. But it isn't working. GE was off bit on light volume. It has the feel of something that wants to go higher. Not trades there though. Mentally I'm doing OK. The GG call trade will be a loser. Now what's the difference if it's 70% or 80%? Not much really. I'd like to wait around for the earnings but even that won't help at this point. The problem is staying in a losing trade takes your attention away from other opportunities. And it affects what you do next. It shouldn't of course but those are the realities of the game. I'll ponder it over the weekend and go from there. Friday afternoon and time for a break. My thinking is that summer is finally taking hold in the markets and the volatility will slow down. We'll see.

Back to the downside today as the Dow dropped 283 points. Advance/declines were about 4 to 1 negative and the volume was OK. I don't think it's the beginning of a major decline here. A retest of the recent lows is in order and this could get us started. I'll be looking for some OEX calls if we get back to the recent lows or become short term oversold. Gold was flat today and the XAU lost 3 points. ABX and GG were basically flat today while NEM was up 1 3/4 with good earnings. The volume was good on all three issues. The gold share buy signal reading that I look at is at the highest I've ever seen it. I almost bought some more GG calls today but didn't have the guts. Perhaps if I would have exited the losing position I'm in earlier this week I would have bought them. Can we keep going down here on the gold shares? Of course we can but the odds now favor some type of bounce at the least. GE was off 1/2 on average volume. Considering the drop in the overall market, GE held up pretty well. It might be a place to look to get long if the decline continues. Mentally I'm feeling fine, slept well. The line between success and failure gets pretty thin sometimes. That's how I'm feeling at the moment. It's not an easy game as I've said in the past. You've really got to on your game at all times. It's hard to do consistently but that's part of the challenge.

Continuing overbought as the Dow tacked on another 30 points. Advance/declines were positive and the volume was good. I'd expect some type of pullback in the next couple of days because we won't just be going straight up. Money has been coming back into stocks with short covering and the selling of bonds. That's my guess. Gold got clobbered again, down $25. They pile in and they pile out. Unfortunately I'm on the wrong side. The dollar got even stronger today. The XAU lost 9 3/4 points. ABX off 3 3/4, GG lost 2 3/4 and NEM fell 2 points. All on heavy volume. My GG calls are dead, I'm waiting for the oversold bounce to dump them at a loss. But at this rate, who knows? Maybe it's too late but they're not at a nickel yet. I guess I got greedy but the buy signal isn't working this time around. It is even stronger than it was but we keep dropping. I can't figure that out. GE was up 3/4 on good volume. Missed out on that one. It too, remains overbought and staying there. The tone of things has changed here. Mentally I'm feeling OK. I suppose I should have let the first week of the new option cycle pass in retrospect. There were signs that the GG trade may not work but there are always questions in the game. You try your best and that's all you can do. You've got to take risks but you also need to pick your spots. Gold will be back but not anytime soon to save the GG trade. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

The rally continues as the Dow turned around from early losses and posted a gain of 135 points on OK volume. Advance/declines were 2 to 1 positive. Summation index to the upside as the McClellan oscillator continues higher as well. So are all the sellers gone for now? It appears that way. I still think we'll retest the lows at some point. Overbought and staying that way for now. Gold got clobbered as the dollar rallied and oil fell. The dollar did the exact opposite of what I had expected. Gold lost $15 and the XAU dropped 7 points. ABX, GG and NEM were all lower on good volume. ABX and NEM held up rather well only off 1/2. GG got killed on good volume, down over 2 1/2. I had an overnight order in for GG calls and it was filled. It is already at a 50% loss. That was a mistake. There is no more relative strength in GG. It is now the weakest of the group. Earnings in a week and I don't think I'll wait around for that. There is still a decent buy signal on the gold shares but it isn't working this time. I don't know why. GE was up 80 cents on good volume. I suppose I should have been looking at the calls there but hindsight is always correct. Mentally I'm feeling fine, slept good. Sometimes you are just flat out wrong and it costs you. That's what's happening with this GG trade. There was a reason the volume was weak to the upside yesterday and it lagged. I should have waited for a better set-up. Not to mention there is so much time left in the August cycle that there was no reason to be in a hurry. So the best course of action should be to cut the loss and move on. Hopefully I can manage that.

The Dow lost 29 points on Monday light volume. Advance/declines were positive. Short term overbought for now. Plus the market is selling off in the aftermarket due to bad earnings. However the summation index has turned around and a retest of the lows is in order. So it is kind of a mixed bag but I think the decline is over for now. I don't think we'll see anything substantially below 1200 on the S&P 500 in the near future. I could be wrong. Gold was up around $5 today and the XAU gained over 4 points. ABX, GG and NEM were all higher but the volume was nothing special. I had an order in again for some GG calls but wasn't filled. In fact GG only managed to gain 1/2 while ABX and NEM both tacked on over a point. So I'm wondering what is going on there. I might leave in an overnight order for GG again, we'll see. A lot of time on the options here and I don't like to buy them early. However the buy signal is still there but weaker now with todays positive action. The dollar had a bad day and there is a chance that if the dollar gets weaker here, we go to new lows for the greenback. That would support gold. It's only a guess but it is looking like a possibility on the charts. GE lost over 60 cents on light volume. No trades there for now. Mentally I'm feeling OK, slept all right. Trying to figure out what to do with gold here. NEM earnings on Thursday. ABX and GG Thursday of next week. We just had a lot of volume and volatility in gold the past 2 weeks. I can't expect things to continue like that. The fact that GG, which has been the leader recently, didn't participate in the rally today concerns me as well. I still might take a shot at it here. But it is summertime and I would expect things to slow down at some point. Maybe not?

Another 50 points to the upside for the Dow on expiration Friday. Advance/declines were slightly positive and the volume looks OK. So we held on this week and the bottoming process for this decline has begun in my opinion. The summation index is trying to turn around to the upside and I believe that it will. It's as negative as it gets. That doesn't mean we can't go lower in the averages later on. The VIX hit the low 30's this time around but not as high as previous washouts. Perhaps now we will see the traditional summer doldrums in the market. Gold futures lost around $13 but the XAU gained a point. The XAU dropped yesterday in response to the aftermarket sell-off in gold. ABX, GG and NEM were mixed and the volume was lighter than we've seen lately. I had an order in for some GG calls but it wasn't filled. There is a ton of time premium in the options with the August cycle just starting. I'm still seeing a buy signal for the gold shares though. However we could get less action here as well now as summer takes hold. But that's just a guess. GE was unchanged on light volume. Not thinking of a trade there but I'll look at it closer this weekend. Mentally I'm a bit tired but did get some sleep. I have an idea of what I want to do here but will check things over the weekend. No need to rush things as there is plenty of time. However the buy signal for the gold shares probably won't last next week so I'll have to ponder it the next 2 days. But for now it's time to take a break. It's summertime, the weekend and a rest is in order.

The bounce continues as the Dow gained another 200 points on good volume. Advance/declines were 2 to 1 positive. We've put in a near term low for now. We should back and fill from here. That's my guess at the moment. I doubt we will just go straight up. We'll see. Gold futures ended up $8 today but the XAU lost 3 3/4 points. Gold is falling in the aftermarket. ABX, GG and NEM were all lower on heavy volume. ABX is showing better relative strength now. There is a buy signal for the gold shares and I did put in an order for GG calls but canceled it. We have fallen sharply from the highs of Tuesday in the gold shares on good volume. Up trend lines have been broken. We are reaching oversold rather quickly. I'm going to go over the charts tonight and perhaps get some calls on weakness tomorrow. I think the earnings are due in the August option cycle as well. GE was up a touch on average volume. Getting overbought short term there and haven't said that for quite a while. Mentally I'm doing OK. For some reason I'm hesitating on the gold signal. It isn't that I don't believe it but there is a lot of time left on the options. I'm also thinking that the volatility will have to take a break at some point and it is the summer. I also think that is true for the overall market as well. So I don't want to sit in a position and watch the time premium fade away. But that's just some thoughts, not what the market will actually do in all likelihood.

The post is late today as I had an appointment at 10am PST that took up the remainder of the day. And what a day it was as we finally got the short covering massive up day that I had been looking for. The Dow was higher by 277 points on good volume. Advance/declines were 3 to 1 positive. Tuesday was capitulation day and that low of 1200 for the S&P 500 should hold for now. We will be bouncing upwards from here probably for a couple of days. The summation index should start to turn up shortly. There may be a retest but that will be a chance to get long in my opinion. Gold lost about $15 today and the XAU was down 5 points. ABX, GG and NEM were all down again on good volume. There is a buy signal for the gold shares here again. I may wait this time because the other technicals aren't as sold out. However GG was much lower and made a nice comeback during the trading day. GE was up a buck on good volume. Perhaps I'll choose to try GE again on a pull back. It was going to happen sooner or later. Mentally I'm tired at this point. It's been a long day and I'm looking forward to some rest. 2 days on the option cycle and I won't try anything here, will I? Doubtful but you never know.

It was another rock and roll day as the volatility is never ending. The Dow lost 92 points on what looks like almost 3 to 1 negative advance/declines. The volume numbers are skewed at the moment but I must assume it was heavy again. I thought today could be the end of the decline when we came back to be positive after being down about 250 points early. But we faded again at the close. There should be some positive divergences in the McClellan oscillator here. And again, the summation index is blown out to the downside. However this decline is relentless. I was thinking of getting some OEX calls for the end of expiration but now I doubt it. Gold had a wild day as well ending up $5 after opening much higher and then selling off for a loss during the day. The XAU dropped 5 1/4 points. ABX, GG and NEM were all lower on extremely heavy volume. GG led the way, down over 3 points after opening up 1 1/2 points. It had a 10% price swing in one day! Crazy times. We are on the cusp of another buy signal for the gold shares here. Only 3 days in the July options though. The dollar was lower today but so was oil. Perhaps I'll try the GG calls here but it's risky. GE lost a 1/2 on heavy volume and was down a buck more than that early on. And so it goes. Mentally I'm doing OK, slept well enough. I still get the feeling that we will be putting in a trading bottom here. Perhaps the lows of today will hold tomorrow and we'll take off from there. But that's just a guess. These are extraordinary times in the markets at the moment. The selling just doesn't stop. It will but I really don't know when. I'm back looking at the gold shares but todays action was pretty intense, especially for GG. It was a one day reversal to the downside. Other than that I think that maybe the best course of action is to sit it out for a while until things settle down. Easier said than done. Opportunities are created here as well. Intel has reported better earnings than expected but nothing like that seems to matter in this market. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Trying to stabilize here but it hasn't happened yet. The Dow lost 46 points on good volume once again. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 to the downside as the overall market was weaker than the Dow. I didn't think we would go on like this for so long but it continues. Perhaps we'll just taper down into the expiration. I still think there will be a giant short covering upside move at some point. But I've said that for a couple of weeks now. Summation index still pointing down and it is about as low as it goes. Gold continued higher today, up another $13. The XAU rose over 6 points. ABX, GG and NEM were all higher on good volume. GG led the way up 2 3/4. I dumped the GG calls but I should have held on for a better price. However the buy signal for the gold shares is off now. That said, the gold indices closed on their highs and there is probably more room to run here. I'll take the 280% gain and try to move on. There is always room for improvement. I should have and could have done better. But at least that trade had a decent game plan, to get long on any pull back. We broke out, which I missed. Gold then pulled back towards the breakout point and gave you a chance to get long again. It then took off again from there. I was fortunate to get some calls on the pull back. GE was down 1/2 on average volume. I tried and failed there but who knows? August calls perhaps? The market can't go down forever and GE most likely would move with it. Mentally I'm tired. Didn't get enough sleep and the trading takes its toll. I always try and do my best with each trade but it doesn't always seem that way. Risk is something that can't be taken lightly. Risk must be dealt with in a positive manner to be successful. It's hard to know when to take it and when to eliminate it. There are 4 days left in the July option cycle. I would like to perhaps try an OEX call trade at some point. But the more prudent thing at this juncture might be to look out to August. Not try and do something stupid here for the rest of the week. But you never know. These are interesting times to say the least.

Another crazy day as the summer doldrums are nowhere to be found. The Dow dropped 127 points on heavy volume. Advance/declines were 2 to 1 negative. It could have been worse. We were down more than double that at one point. But we did come all the way back only to fall again. That's the kind of market we're in. Mortgage troubles in the headlines today. Summation index continues lower. I don't have the answers. I still think it's got to turn around but it hasn't. Gold was a safe haven favorite, up $18. The XAU jumped 7 1/2. ABX, GG and NEM were all up over 2 bucks on extremely heavy volume. The GG calls are doing fine at the moment. But that could change in an instant. However the price action with heavy volume says there is more room to the upside. We'll see. GE opened lower, was up 1/2 and then ended pretty much unchanged on heavy volume. I dumped the calls I had at the open. The market was so bearish at the beginning, GE never had a chance. The premium from the earnings was sucked out and it turned a slight winner at the close yesterday into a 60% loser. Yeah I could hang on for a 100% loss next week probably but why bother? It was a scalp trade that turned into a longer term hope the earnings are good trade. I should have gotten out with the small profit when I had the chance. The whole trade was stupid to begin with. When you make stupid trades you lose money, when you make smart ones you make money. Mentally I'm tired, not enough sleep and volatile markets. Mistakes are part of the game and I'm moving on from the GE debacle. Not a lot of money involved but a loss is still a loss. The markets are really nervous here but this can't go on forever. A check of the charts over the weekend and some rest are in order. We'll see if there is any news over the weekend and go from there.

No follow through to the downside as the Dow rose 81 points on heavy volume. Advance/declines were positive but not by much. We came back in the last hour instead of selling off as we did yesterday. So what happens next? My thinking is that we have to turn the summation index around at some point. It may as well be now. But who knows? We've stayed negative for quite some time. There is no reason it just won't continue until expiration. So we'll see. Gold was up 13 bucks today and the XAU gained 5 points. It was a choppy session though for the gold shares and they finished well off the highs again. ABX up 2, GG and NEM up about 1 1/2. Volume was high on all of them. Moving higher here and still the buy signal remains intact. Interesting. The GG calls are back in the black but now it seems as though ABX has taken the lead in price movement. Perhaps I'll dump them tomorrow. GE rose 40 cents on heavy volume. It was all over the place. Short covering perhaps ahead of the earnings tomorrow? The calls are showing a slight profit again. That could all change tomorrow at the open. Regardless, I will be selling these things tomorrow. Mentally I'm feeling OK. Trying to make sense of what is going on here but I haven't in quite a while. GE earnings premium to be taken out tomorrow so that has to be taken into consideration. The gold shares aren't keeping up with the metal and that is worrisome. There's always questions without clear answers in this game.

Back to the downside today as the Dow lost 237 points on good volume. Advance/declines were 2 to 1 negative. Perhaps yesterday was all the bounce we could manage. Everything is getting sold now and I have no reasons. Summation index still pointing down and it is not turning. Oversold and staying there. It won't last forever but it has lasted longer than I would have thought. It's a liquidation of stocks and I won't begin to pretend that I know why. Gold was up 5 bucks today but the XAU lost a 1/2 after being up by 6 points. ABX and GG had small gains while NEM lost 1/2. Volume was average and these issues too had nice gains and gave them all back. The dollar was lower and oil flat. The GG calls showed some profit early but are now in the red again. I'm about at the point to just dump them but the buy signal for the gold shares remains. GE gave back almost all of yesterdays gains, off 85 cents on average volume. I cannot believe that the calls I have are so far out of the money yet still worth something. It's all earnings premium that will be sucked out at the open on Friday with the earnings release. Unless it just continues to fall apart tomorrow and then even the earnings won't save them. Mentally I'm feeling better, got a good nights sleep. The charts for the market and what I have positions in look very bearish after todays action. Things will have to turn around quickly or there will be losses. But it's all part of the game. I probably should be on the sidelines here because the market is not responding to the usual cues. I'm seeing some technical readings that don't make sense given the underlying action. I have to believe in the gold share buy signal because it has worked so many times before. Only 7 days left on those GG calls though. GE is another story because it did turn around but today negated that. I suppose I'll just wait for Friday there now.

Finally a bounce as the Dow gained 152 points. Advance/declines were positive for a change and the volume was heavy again. I don't think that it's going to be straight up from here but it could be the beginning of a bottoming formation. I don't think the real short covering has begun yet. I could be wrong. Gold lost $5 today and the XAU fell 3 points. The is another buy signal here for the gold shares. We were even lower earlier. ABX, GG and NEM were all lower on average volume. The GG calls are in the red. Getting short term oversold there. GE was up almost a buck on good volume. The calls there are now showing a small profit. Perhaps GE is leading the way back up. Earnings out on Friday but now things get interesting. I might just have to take the profit ahead of the earnings to avoid the risk. We'll see. I have an open order to sell the calls if the target price is hit. Mentally I'm tired again as I did not sleep well again. I still think we will have a pretty good downside day by the end of the week and Friday could fit the bill. But it's all up for discussion at this point. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Posting a bit early today as we have just closed. It was a volatile day up, down, up and back down again. The Dow lost 57 points on good volume. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 negative and the volume was good. We were up over 100 and down over 150 during the day. The last hour was crazy up and down. No summer doldrums here. Still oversold and no end in sight. As I've said before, I am waiting for the massive short covering up day to appear. Not yet. Gold lost around $6 today and was lower earlier. The XAU dropped 3 points. ABX, GG and NEM were all down and the volume was good. Perhaps the buy signal won't work this time. My GG calls are right back where I bought them with GG off almost a buck today. The dollar bounced around and oil was weaker. GE was up a touch on good volume. It was higher earlier. The GE calls are still under water and going nowhere really. Earnings on Friday. If we don't get a move up before then I may as well hold on. The earnings announcement is keeping more premium in these than usual. Otherwise they'd be dead. And they might be anyway. Mentally I'm tired, did not sleep well. The volatility isn't helping either. The summation index is still pointing down and at levels where it normally would turn around. But that hasn't happened. I don't know why. Other indicators are not showing as oversold of a condition. So on we go. At some point here soon, I am going to exit my positions and sit on the sidelines. Perhaps I should already be there.

We ended 73 points higher on the Dow in a holiday shortened session. Volume was light and the advance/declines were negative yet again. The overall market was weaker than the Dow. The employment report was weak again. The market remains oversold. I'm still waiting for one of those multi-hundred point short covering up days. It isn't happening. Gold fell over $10 as the dollar rallied after the ECB meeting. Short covering in the dollar there for sure. I got another buy signal for the gold shares early. I bought some GG calls. The XAU dropped 1 1/2 on the day but was much lower early. ABX, GG and NEM all lost ground today on lighter volume. GG was off 3/4. My thinking is that the past 2 days was the snap back to the breakout but I could be wrong. The volatility in GG has been higher relatively lately, so I chose that over ABX. Either one will work if the theory is correct. GE was up 40 cents on light volume. I really thought about selling out the calls today and taking the loss. Regardless of the earnings next Friday. I will think hard about that over the weekend. Technically it's got room to go on the upside but the technicals haven't meant anything in that issue lately. Mentally I'm feeling tired, did not sleep as long as I would normally. It is really time for a break here and I'm looking forward to the long weekend. There haven't been any summer doldrums yet. My thinking is that it will be volatile into the July expiration and then settle down for a bit after that. But who knows? I'll be checking things over the weekend but for now it's time to relax.

The Dow broke to new lows today, down 166 points. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 negative and the volume was heavy again. It seems as if nothing will hold this market up. Oversold and staying there. When will it end. I don't know. All rallies are being sold and there has not been the usual short covering burst to the upside. Employment report tomorrow and is there any doubt we will sell-off when it's released? Gold gained a couple of bucks while the XAU dropped over 7 points. What's going on here? Profit taking before the ECB meeting I suppose. It almost puts the gold shares at another buy signal. Perhaps tomorrow. ABX, GG and NEM all down on good volume. ABX lost a buck and the others over $2. The dollar fell again today. I suppose I could get some calls tomorrow if there's a decent signal. We'll see. GE lost 65 cents on lighter volume. I should have just gotten out earlier this week because this was supposed to be a bounce trade. Another mistake. GE would have to rally 10% for this thing to work. Is it possible? Not in this market regardless of the earnings next Friday. Mentally I'm recovering form the dentist and I didn't sleep well so I'm a bit tired. Not the ideal conditions for trading decisions. The selling continues and it is a market that I'm not familiar with. No bounces and simply lower. A water torture decline. Haven't had that blowout down day that signals the bottom. Perhaps tomorrow.

Well the market is trying to hang on here. The Dow gained 32 points after being off as much as 170. Advance/declines were negative and the volume was extremely heavy again. It's working off the oversold condition but we really aren't seeing much of a bounce. That could lead to even more trouble. Interesting times indeed. Where we go from here, I don't know. The summation index is in negative territory and about at an intermediate term buy signal. But nothing conventional has been working lately. Employment report on Thursday and a shortened session for the holiday. Gold was up another $15 today and the XAU gained 2 1/4 points. ABX, GG and NEM were all higher, GG by 2 bucks. Volume there remains heavy. The dollar lost a bit of ground today. ECB meeting on Thursday too. GE was up another 40 cents on heavy volume again. Could this be the bottom in GE for the time being? We'll see. I have an order in to dump the calls at a profit if it ever gets there. The timing was all wrong on the entry there. Yes, it was a dumb trade to begin with. Earnings Friday of next week. I really hope it doesn't come down to that. Mentally I'm doing as well as can be expected. Trying not to think of the missed gold trade and going to the dentist later this afternoon. So things could be better. Still waiting for a pullback in the gold shares but it isn't coming. So we go to tomorrow. There is a lot of fear in the market and that usually leads to a bottom. However my call/put ratio isn't as bullish as it could be and my TRIN reading isn't as oversold as at other times when we formed decent bottoms. We'll see what happens.