A short and quiet trading day as the Dow gained 289 points on very light volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is moving up. It was a great week to be long the market. The S&P 500 has made it above its short term down trend line albeit on light volume. The short term indicators are not yet completely overbought. We are getting a sell signal from one of our indicators but my thinking is that we're heading for new all time highs. I'll consider things over the weekend. Gold was up $44 on the futures. The US dollar was a bit lower and futures rates a bit higher. The XAU was up 7 3/4, while GDX added 1 3/8. Volume was light. GDX is short term overbought on some of its indicators. It looks poised to hit a new 52 week high. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower and closed below 16.5. It is now short term oversold but can stay that way during rallies like the one we are currently in. We'll look over the charts this weekend but it appears that we are in rally mode until further notice. Asia was mixed and Europe a bit higher to close out the week overseas. It's a half day Friday during a long holiday weekend and time for a break.

Keep on keeping on as the rally continued today. The Dow gained 314 points on average volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is moving up. The holiday week positive bias is in full swing. The S&P 500 made it up to its short term down trend line which is where it lies now. What happens here will be key but I've got to say that it looks like we are simply moving on to new all time highs in the coming days. The short term indicators for the S&P are moving up and are not yet overbought. The only thing that would change our minds would be a reversal from here. Gold was up $18 on the futures. The US dollar was a bit lower and interest rates finished mixed. The XAU zoomed up 15 points, while GDX climbed 3 3/4. Volume was good as GDX broke above its short term down trend line. GDX is getting to short term overbought but not completely there yet. The gold shares are far outperforming gold itself here and that is bullish for them. It looks like the gold shares had their correction and are now ready to hit new all time highs. We'll see. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower and closed below its short term up trend line. It also made it through its 50 day moving average. Some of its indicators are oversold but not all. The longer term up trend line on the VIX lies at 16.5. If it gets below that level this rally in stocks will last longer than you think. If it doesn't then there may be a chance to try the SPY December puts at some point. Thanksgiving in the US tomorrow followed by a half day on Friday with some closures. So most of the major players here are gone until next week. Europe and Asia were higher overnight. Enjoy the holiday.

Today the Dow led things higher as the most watched index gained 664 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were 4 to 1 positive. Ths summation index has now turned back up. We'll see if it can keep it going. The S&P 500 had another good day and is approaching its short term down trend line that comes in a bit above 6800. What happens there will tell us what we need to know. A break above will continue the rally and it will be on to test the all time high. If it can't get through there, then we'll see some more selling. The short term indicators for the S&P are still moving up with room to go. I'm inclined to try the SPY Decmeber puts if it stalls at the down trend line but only for the short term. Gold was up $35 on the futures. The US dollar dropped along with interest rates. The XAU rose a couple points and GDX dipped 1/8. Volume was light. The short term indicators for GDX are beginning to stall. GDX is up against its short term down trend line. No gold share trades in mind at the moment. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today which fits with an up market. It is now below the 20 level and at its 50 day moving average. The short term indicators here are moving down and are not yet oversold. A break below the 50 day moving average would be bullish for stocks. The VIX is close to its short term up trend line and if it could get through it that would be another positive for the market. One more trading day before a long weekend for most in the US. Europe and Asia were generally higher overnight. I'll keep an eye on tonights developments.

A big move up for the overall market and the Dow managed a gain of 202 points on pretty heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is beginning to stall. The NASDAQ led the way higher with a gain of over 2 1/2%. That is a plus. It appears that the positive holiday week bias is in effect but we'll see how the rest of the week plays out. The S&P 500 was up over 100 points. The short term indicators here have turned up with room to go. The S&P has made it back to the 50 day moving average. Not sure if the recent decline is over but we're leaning that way. Gold was up $51 on the futures. The US dollar finished little changed again and interest rates dipped. The XAU climbed 15 2/3 and GDX jumped 4 1/3. Volume was slightly above average. The short term indicators for GDX have turned up with room to go. GDX also has held its 50 day moving average. It is right up against its short term down trend line. A break there would be positive. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX has another big drop today. The short term indicators here are moving lower. The VIX is still above the 20 level though. My guess is that it will continue lower and stocks higher for the rest of the week. Some economic data will finally be released tomorrow but I'm not sure what the effects will be. Europe finished mixed and Asia was generally higher to start the week. We'll see if we get some more upside follow through tomorrow.

Some relief from the selling today as the Dow gained 493 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were 4 to 1 positive. The summation index is still moving lower. It is heading towards the zero line which would lead to the market falling apart. Not there yet but we have to be aware of it. I don't think that we'll break down here but I could be wrong. The Dow was the leader to the upside today. I would think that more near term upside is upon us as the holiday week coming is usually positive. But who knows? The short term indicators for the S&P remain oversold. On the weekly chart they are heading lower and getting to mid-range. Holding above the 20 week moving average for now as price bounced off that this week. A breakdown on the weekly chart could take us to around 6200 which be be a 10% drop from the recent highs. However at this point we'll see how things go next week before making any decisions. Gold was off three bucks today on the futures. The US dollar finished flat again and interest rates dropped. The XAU was up 2 1/3, while GDX added 2/3. Volume was a bit above average. The short term indicators for GDX are back to stalling at the mid-range level. We are still waiting before putting on any trades there. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and that fits todays price action. The short term indicators are heading down but are still in overbought territory. The VIX remains above 20 so the volatility probably isn't over just yet. My guess is that the VIX will head lower next week as we see some buying but perhaps this year the holiday week won't conform with the usual probability. Rolling into the December option cycle so premiums will be high. The recent volatility adds to that as well. I'll be going over all the charts this weekend as usual. Asia finished lower and Europe mixed to end the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a rest.

Today we witnessed a dramatic one day downside reversal as stock indices had a huge gap up at the open only to turn around and close with big losses. The Dow fell 386 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 3 to 1 negative. The summation index is moving down. We saw the rally out of nowhere that we were looking for but were not able to take advantage of it. Things were simply moving too fast for our liking and there was only a couple of days left in the November option cycle. Opportunity lost you might say and you are not wrong. However I am more of a position trader as my short term trades usually end up in defeat. The NASDAQ led the way lower despite a good earnings report from NVDA which produced the early market buying. The S&P 500 was up over 125 points early on only to roll over and finish at the lows for the session down over 100. That is some kind of crazy volatility. The short term indicators for the S&P are oversold and the daily candlestick chart looks bearish. Near term support should kick in around 6500 but there are no guarantees. Something is going on here but we ceratinly don't know what. The market holds the ultimate truth. Gold lost $8 on the futures. The US dollar finished flat and interest rates dipped. The XAU slid 15 points, while GDX lost 3 1/3. Volume was heavy to the downside. The short term indicators for GDX are back to heading lower and it closed below the 50 day moving average again. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher and that is not a surprise. The short term indicators are overbought and staying that way for now. As long as the VIX remains above the 20 level it will be a rocky road for stocks. Not sure how long this lasts. Option expiration Friday tomorrow which could be crazy but I can't see it being as volatile as today. But markets go where they want. Asia and Europe finished higher overnight as they were trading off of the NVDA earnings. We'll close out the week tomorrow.

Volatility is in charge for now as the Dow gained 47 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index continues down. We were up and down more than once today as the market tries to figure out its next move. After the bell NVDA earnings should get things going overnight. Employment data due out tomorrow morning. I'm still thinking about perhaps trying the SPY puts if we see a big rally tomorrow but the more prudent course of action would be to sit things out with only 2 days left in the November option cycle. The NASDAQ led things higher today but it wasn't exactly what you'd call a rally. More of just hanging around until tomorrow. The S&P 500 posted a small gain. The short term indicators for the S&P remain oversold. Gold was up ten bucks on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates finished generally flat. The XAU gained 3 7/8 and GDX was up 3/4 again. Volume was average. The short term indicators for GDX are trying to turn back up. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX ended a bit lower today which fits with todays market price movement. The short term indicators here are still overbought. Not sure what's next for the VIX. We'll see how things go early tomorrow morning to decide if a trade in the SPY options is worth the risk. Europe was lower and Asia mixed overnight. I'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.