It was a Trump victory in the US election and stock markets exploded to the upside. The Dow, S&P 500 along with the NASDAQ hit new all time highs. The Dow gained 1508 points on very heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is trying to turn back up. Stocks rejoiced at the implication of another four years with Trump at the helm of the US government. The short term techncial indicators for the S&P improved and are moving straight up. There is no overhead resistance for the major stock indices. I'm not sure how long the rally lasts but there is nothing in the way for now on higher prices. We've got the Fed tomorrow and a rate cut is widely expected. I missed out on the SPY November calls as I did not want to pay the high premiums for another mistake on my part. Too late for that idea now. Gold got clobbered as the futures lost eighty bucks. The US dollar jumped higher and so did interest rates. The gold shares got slammed with the XAU losing almost 4 points and GDX dropping 1 1/2. Volume was heavy to the downside. Considering the drop in gold itself, it could have been worse for the gold shares. Gold was dropping overnight but not as steep as it became today. I should have canceled my open order for the GDX November calls but did not. Yet another mistake. It was filled at the open and is showing a loss. I might be able to cut the loss tomorrow if we get some good news from the Barrick Gold earnings before the bell. The technical picture for GDX has changed as the short and longer term up trend lines have been broken. It remains short term oversold but can remain that way during down trends. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX gapped lower today which fits with a robust stock market. It is now well below the 20 level and its 50 day moving average. The VIX is right by its 200 day moving average and if it can get below that level the rally will have legs. Today we saw an example of how quick things can sometimes change in the market place. We don't often see moves like we saw today but thare is always that potential. Asia was mixed and Europe lower overnight. We'll see how the market reacts to the Fed tomorrow.

Moving higher on election day as the Dow gained 427 points on light volume. The advance/declines were 4 to 1 positive. The summation index is trying to turn around. Another day of breadth like today would do it. The NASDAQ led the way higher and that is a plus for the bulls. Getting the election put of the way was to be seen a positive for the market and we probably got some of that today. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 have turned up with plenty of room to go. I might be premature but this could be the beginning of a rally to new all time highs for the S&P. I did not get any of the SPY November calls here as the option premiums were too high for me but perhaps there will be another chance. Of course one day doesn't make a rally and the election results could change things. But my thinking is that the market will go higher from here regardless. Gold was up $5 on the futures. The US dollar was lower and interest rates finished mixed. The XAU and GDX had fractional gains on light volume. The gold shares did not follow the overall market today. GDX remains on its 50 day moving average and short term oversold. My open order for the GDX November calls is still out there. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and its short term indicators have turned down. The movement here is another reason to be positive on the market going forward. Still above the 20 level and its 50 day moving average though. Getting below those levels should be an all clear signal for the bulls. Europe and Asia were higher overnight. I'll keep an eye on the election results along with the futures movements tonight and we'll see what tomorrow brings.

Some selling today ahead of an important week as the Dow fell 257 points on light volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is moving lower. We've got the US election and the Fed on tap this week. The NASDAQ along with the S&P 500 had minor declines. Waiting on results and data. I still like the idea of the SPY calls in a sigh of relief rally once the election has been called. More importantly the S&P is short term oversold and hanging in at the 50 day moving average along with the lower Bollinger band. However the option premiums remain high for the SPY options. If they do move low enough for me I'll probably give this trade a shot. Gold was off a few bucks on teh futures today. The US dollar was lower along with interest rates. The XAU and GDX had slight fractional moves one way or the other on light volume. GDX is hugging its 50 day moving average and is also short term oversold. I did place an order overnight for the GDX November calls but it was not filled. I am leaving the order open. This is a trade that has worked the previous four months heading into option expiration. We'll see if number five follows that pattern. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX finished flat today. Still in short term overbought territory. Still below the levels of the recent highs for this indicator. It is another reason that leads me to believe that the SPY calls will work here. However if the VIX spikes up from here that trade idea would be dead. Asia was mixed and Europe lower to begin the trading week. We'll see how election Tuesday shapes up.

We did not see follow through selling today but instead got an oversold bounce as the Dow gained 288 points on light volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is moving lower. The jobs report came in weaker than expected. The NASDAQ led the way up but we are in a precarious market position. We do not know if today was just a reaction to relieve the oversold market condition before we head lower or if the decline will end here at the 50 day moving average on the S&P. We are in short term oversold territory on the S&P 500 so you can make the case either way. However todays price action cannot be construed as positive, since the early gains were sold off for the rest of the session. I did place an overnight order for the SPY November calls but it was not filled. I think that I still like this idea but from lower levels on the S&P if we get them. Gold was off five bucks on the futures. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU lost almost 2 points and GDX dipped 1/2. GDX is now short term oversold which is what I've been waiting for to consider the calls here again. A call trade on GDX has worked the last three times it got short term oversold in the previous three months. There is nothing to say that it won't work again this time around. GDX is right on its short term trend line though. A break below here would make me want to reconsider this idea. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and some of the short term indicators have turned down. The rise in the VIX did stop at the recent previous levels during the past couple of months. This is another vote for higher stock prices moving forward and trying the SPY November calls next week. That's not to say that the VIX can't simply turn back up and stock prices continue to move lower. The techncial evidence at the moment though suggests that isn't going to happen. There will be plenty to ponder going over the charts this weekend. Asia was mixed and Europe higher to close out the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a rest.

A tech wreck on Wall street today as the Dow fell 378 points on good volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 negative. The summation index continues down. Sour earnings reports from big tech sent stocks with a gap lower at the open and they never looked back. The inflation data came in where expected. The NASDAQ led the way lower dropping over 2 1/2%. The S&P 500 lost over 100 points. It was that kind of day. The S&P is getting to short term oversold but not there yet. Expect some follow through selling tomorrow. The S&P is just about at its 50 day moving average. There is support for the S&P at 5600 and also a longer term up trend line at 5500. Not sure if we get to these levels and if they hold if we do. However I'm still thinking about getting some of the SPY November calls when the S&P 500 gets to short term oversold in the next few days. Gold dropped $44 on the futures. The US dollar finished flat and interest rates were slightly higher. The XAU lost 5 1/4, while GDX slipped 1 1/8. Volume was good to the downside. GDX is getting to short term oversold but is not there yet either. It bounced off of its 50 day moving average today which is its first area of support that includes the short term up trend line. The next up trend line comes in down at the 37 level. Not sure what to do next here but we'll wait and see what level GDX becomes oversold before making any trading decisions. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX jumped today and that was to be expected with the carnage on the street. At the 23 level and above the upper Bollinger band. Another day like today will get us to short term overbought on the technical indicators. The VIX is now at the level for the past couple of market drops in the last two months. So it is possible that the worst is close to being over for the bulls but we'll know in the days ahead. The breadth today also wasn't that bad for a market that got crushed. We'll see where we go from here. Asia and Europe were down overnight and I'd expect more selling on Friday. We'll close out the trading week tomorrow.

Down, up and back down today as the Dow fell 91 points on light volume. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index is still moving down. The NASDAQ led the way lower but it wasn't a steep decline. The S&P 500 remains in a sideways channel. The short term indicators have now turned down for the S&P. Seems like the market is just biding its time here perhaps simply waiting on the outcome of the US election. Or maybe something else is going on below the surface. We'll wait for some kind of technical signal before attempting the next SPY option trade. Gold was up $17 on the futures to a new all time high. The US dollar was lower and interest rates were slightly higher. The XAU lost 2 1/4, while GDX was off 1/2. Volume was light. Gold up and the gold shares down isn't a bullish scenario. Not sure if GDX is forming a bottom here or simply stalling before heading lower. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up today and is back above the 20 level. The short term indicators have moved up from mid-range. The VIX implies more selling after todays reading. We'll see. Inflation data due out tomorrow. Europe and Asia were lower last night with the exception of Japan. I'll keep an eye on the overnight developments.

It was a one day upside reversal for the overall market today as it opened lower and closed higher but the Dow fell 154 points on light volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is moving down. Once again we had poor breadth as the market continues to try and figure out which way to go. The NASDAQ finally closed at a new all time high. The S&P 500 had a slight gain. The short term indicators here are moving sideways. Perhaps the tech earnings out this week can get things moving one way or the other. We don't have a clear technical signal for a trade here so we'll have to wait. I'm still in the camp that the SPY calls are the way to go here. I could be wrong. Gold was up $30 on the futures to a new all time high. The US dollar and interest rates finished the day flat. The XAU was up 2 3/4, while GDX added around 2/3. Volume was average. The short term indicators for GDX are trying to turn up from the mid-range level. We will wait for the gold shares to get oversold. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today which fits the overall market. The short term indicators remain at mid-range. Waiting on earnings and the economic data due this week. End of the month on Thursday. The US election plus the Fed next week. Plenty of excuses for market movement. Waiting on a decent trading signal for now. Plenty of time remains in the November option cycle. Asia higher and Europe lower overnight. We'll see how things go tomorrow.