More buying to finish off the week as the Dow rose 334 points on good volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is moving up. Once again the NASDAQ led the way higher and htat's a plus. The S&P 500 broke above the resistance of its short term down trend line. The short term indicators here are moving higher. I'm still looking for new all time highs for the S&P in the coming weeks. I'm looking at the SPY February calls but the premiums are pricey. Declines can be purchased in my view going forward. We will look to get some calls on weakness if we see any. Gold was off a dozen on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates finished flat. The XAU was up a buck and GDX rose 1/8. Volume was light. GDX is short term overbought on some of the indicators. It is trying to get through both the 50 and 200 day moving averages. GDX now has a short term up trend line in place that has held so far. It has also broken through the down trend line on the weekly chart and the indicators here have turned back up. Perhaps it is time to take a closer look at the calls here. Or we can continue to wait for GDX to return to the longer term up trend line at 30. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and is still hanging around both the 50 and 200 day moving averages. Short term oversold here but not completely. Quite a comeback for the stock market this week. The weekly candlestick charts for the major indices now look bullish. Only a complete reversal to the downside whould change things next week. I don't see that happening. Hopefully we'll get an opportunity to purchase some SPY calls. A long weekend here in the US and I'll have plenty of time to go over all the charts. Asia was mixed and Europe higher to close out the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a rest.

Treading water today with the exception of the NASDAQ as the Dow fell 68 points on average volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is now moving higher. Sideways trading action this Thursday ahead of option expiration. It's also before a long holiday weekend in the US as the markets will be closed on Monday. The NASDAQ fell the most today and that is not a plus for the bulls. The S&P 500 had a small loss as it is right up against the longer term down trend line on a daily basis. The short term indicators here are at mid-range. My guess is that we'll get through that line in short order but maybe not tomorrow. Sometime next week at the latest or else my prognosis here is wrong. I also believe we are in the beginning of a multi-week rally for the S&P. Gold was up $30 on the futures. The US dollar was slightly lower along with interest rates. The XAU and GDX had fractional losses on light volume. That is two days in a row now that gold had good moves higher and the gold shares basically did nothing. Not a good sign for the gold share bulls. I'm on the sidelines with regards to trading the GDX options for now. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was a bit higher today as it stalls on both the 50 and 200 day moving averages. No clear signal from the short term indicators here. The game plan for now is to let expiration Friday pass and head into the February option cycle which has an extra week on it. So premiums will be high. I'll be looking at the SPY calls again as I think that we are heading to new all time highs for the S&P. I could be wrong. Europe and Asia finished higher. We'll close out the trading week tomorrow.

It was a blast off from the start as the inflation data was just a touch soft and the Dow climbed 703 points on good volume. The advance/declines were better than 5 to 1 positive. The summation index is turning back up. It should continue higher from here as the zero line area has held for now. The NASDAQ led the way and that's a plus for the bulls. We had a big gap the open and continued on from there. The S&P 500 has made it back to its 50 day moving average and the short term indicators are now moving up. It is almost back to the longer term down trend line that is in place. We will probably get through there soon and on to new all time highs in my opinion. I sold the SPY January calls that I had for a 75% profit. Could have done even better than that but I took the gift that the market gave me. This trade had a bad entry and a not so good exit and still somehow came out on top. Gold was up $35 on the futures. The US dollar was slightly lower and interest rates dropped. The XAU rose 3/4 and GDX added 3/8. Volume was light. GDX is now barely above the down trend line that's been in place since last October. It is also short term overbought on some of the indicators. Mentally I'm feeling tired. The VIX was sharply lower and the short term indicators are moving down. The VIX has made it back down to its 50 and 200 day moving averages. The VIX seems to be implying that the rally will continue. Asia was mixed and Europe higher overnight. I'll keep an eye on the overnight headlines.

Bouncing around today to another mixed bag finish but the Dow gained 221 points on average volume. The advance/declines were 3 to 1 positive. The summation index is trying to turn around. The NASDAQ was lower again and the S&P 500 had another slight gain. A lot will hinge on tomorrrows inflation report in my view. If it comes in strong things will get ugly. If it comes in weak we could see a nice up move as short covering will be required. Of course I'm hoping for the latter as I'm still holding on to the SPY January calls at a loss. We did manage to break the shortest down trend line in the S&P today but could not get any traction beyond that. The short term indicators for the S&P remain oversold but not completely so. We'll see what happens tomorrow morning and take it from there. Gold rose $13 on the futures. The US dollar was lower and interest rates remained flat. The XAU was up 3 3/4, while GDX climbed 7/8. Volume was light. The short term indicators for GDX turned back up. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The shorter term trading usually requires more attention than a longer term idea. The VIX was lower today but some of the short term indicators are still pointing up. Not sure what to expect next here as the VIX is above both its 50 and 200 day moving averages but below the 20 level. Asia was higher with the exception of Japan and Europe up as well except for the FTSE. I'll keep an eye on the overnight developments and try to manage whatever tomorrow brings.

A mixed Monday to begin the week as the Dow was higher and the NASDAQ lower. The most watched index gained 358 points on good volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is moving lower. We had one day upside reversals in some of the major averages today as the market gapped down at the open. The S&P 500 was one of the indexes that had an upside reversal. This is important for the bulls because the S&P is bouncing off of its longer term up trend line that goes back to 2023. If the S&P can hang in here I believe that we'll be moving higher medium term. We'll probably know by Wednesday when the inflation data comes in. The short term indicators for the S&P remain oversold. My SPY January calls are still losers with only four days to go. They are so far out of the money that it will take some strong gains to perhaps make it back to break even. Another downside day will wipe them out. At this point I'll most likely hold them until the CPI on Wednesday. Gold dropped $35 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates finished flat. The XAU lost almost 3 points and GDX was down 5/8. Volume was light. Some of the short term indicators for GDX have rolled over while others have simply stalled. The down trend line from last October remains in place on GDX. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX finished lower today after rising above the 20 level. The short term indicators here are beginning to head sideways with some at the mid-range level. So the VIX could go either way from here. My hope would be that the VIX heads lower from here as the overall market rises. However hope is not a trading strategy. My timing on getting the SPY January calls was not good. The summation index is dancing around the zero line so there is still a chance of a major drop. It is options expiration week so anything goes. Europe and Asia opened the week lower. We'll see how things go tomorrow.

The jobs report came in better than expected but good news was bad news for the stock market as the Dow lost 696 points on good volume. The advance/declines were 4 to 1 negative. The summation index is moving back down. Most of the major stock indices lost at least 1 1/2% on the session. The S&P 500 lost over ninety points and the short term indicators are moving lower. Not yet completely oversold on the S&P. My idea for the SPY january calls seems to be a mistake. However I did purchase some of them today despite the decline. This looks like an ill timed trade as it is showing a loss with only five days left in the January option cycle. The S&P 500 now lies on its up trend line that began back in October of 2023. Whether or not it holds on here will determine the outcome of this SPY trade. It appears as if the market is going to continue lower though as the summation index is falling below the zero line. I can't say that I wasn't warned. Gold was up $25 on the futures. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU and GDX had slight fractional moves one way or the other on about average volume. Both finished well off of their best levels on the day. GDX met resistance at the short term down trend line and 50 day moving average. The short term indicators here are beginning to stall. Gold up and the gold shares not following is not a plus for the gold share bulls. Mentally I'm feeling a bit frustrated as I probably should have just stayed on the sidelines with the current market environment. The signal to attempt the SPY calls here was not as strong as the most recent one that we saw last week. I'll be lucky to get out of this trade with a small loss and that may not even be possible. The VIX jumped today and the short term indicators are now moving up with plenty of room to go higher. This would be another reason to remain bearish heading into next week. Still below the 20 level but just about ready to head north of there with a repeat of todays price action. I'll be going over all the charts this weekend to get ready for Monday morning. Asia and Europe closed lower to finish the week overseas. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Just hanging around today as the Dow rose 106 points on good volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is still in a sideways trend. The Dow was the outperformer today. The NASDAQ had a small loss and the S&P 500 a small gain. The short term indicators for the S&P are now mid-range. I put in a few orders for the SPY January calls today trying to get the price that I wanted. None were filled. If we get early selling on Friday I might take a look at this idea again. Or it could be too late. The market is closed tomorrow ahead of the jobs report and there are only six days left in the January option cycle. So the risk of any option trade here is high. Might have to remain on the sidelines. Gold was up $14 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates finished flat. The XAU climbed 3 1/2, while GDX added 7/8. Volume was a bit above average. GDX is getting close to the down trend line that is in effect at 36.5. It also is nearing both the 50 and 200 day moving averages. Not yet short term overbought on GDX so perhaps it will make it to that down trend line. Mentally I'm feeling like I want to take on the SPY call trade but the signal isn't as strong as I'd like it. I also do not want to make a trade just to do it. I can always just wait until the February cycle. It's something to think about on Thursday. The VIX was just a bit lower today. The short term indicator picture here is mixed with an oversold bias. The VIX is above both its 50 and 200 day moving averages. The daily candlestick chart here looks like that it wants to go lower which would be a boost for stocks. Europe and Asia were generally lower overnight. We'll take a break tomorrow and get ready for Friday morning.