Volatility was the name of the game today as the Dow gained 230 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is moving higher. The NASDAQ led the way and that's a plus. GDX was less than expected and the inflation data came in higher than anticipated. Trumps tariffs were also deemed illegal by the Supreme court. So there was a lot of news to sift through. The S&P 500 had a decent gain and its short term indicators are now moving up. It has me thinking that new all time highs could be back in play perhaps next week. Rolling into the March option cycle now so premiums will be high. Gold was up $110 on the futures. The US dollar was slightly lower and interest rates finished basically flat again. The XAU was up 9 points and GDX rose 1 7/8. Volume was a bit above average. The short term indicators continue higher for GDX. They are not completely overbought but I am looking at the March puts there. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and its short term indicators are moving down. There is an up trend line for the VIX that comes in at around 17.5. We'll see what happens if it gets back to there. I'll be checking the charts this weekend as usual. Asia was lower with the exception of India and Europe higher to end the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Some selling today as the Dow fell 267 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were slightly negative. The summation index continues to trend higher. The Dow led things lower and that isn't the most bearish scenario. We got a signal last night from the McClellan oscillator for a big move with the next two sessions. We'll see if that happens tomorrow. The S&P 500 had a small drop today. The short term indicators for the S&P are now stalling just below the mid-range level. My guess is that it will be weak tomorrow for expiration Friday but I'm not making any trades based on that. Waiting for the next signal. Gold was up a dozen on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates finished flat. The XAU was up 6 1/3 and GDX rose 1 3/4. Volume remains light here for now. The short term indicators are now moving higher for GDX. I'm still a believer that gold itself has seen its high at around $5600 and won't be getting above that number anytime soon. I'm willing to try the GDX puts again on any short term overbought condition. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was a bit higher and is back above the 20 level. The short term indicators here are hanging around the mid-range level. Still not sure where it goes from here. Asia was up with the exception of India and Europe was down. We'll get inflation data and GDP tomorrow. Expiration Friday on tap.

Moving higher today as the Dow gained 129 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is trending higher. We opened higher, had a sell off in the middle of the day only to jump back up in the final hour. The NASDAQ led the way and that is a positive. However I'm not sold on the two day rally continuing. My guess is that the short term buy signal that we got has run its course. I did try to purchase some SPY February calls again this morning but that idea has run its course. I canceled the order. I did take a look at the SPY February puts today but we don't really have a signal for that. The short term indicators for the S&P have now turned up at the mid-range level for ones we are looking at. We are back to the sidelines here. Gold was up $99 on the futures. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU was up 9 3/4, while GDX added 2 1/3. Volume was lighter than average. The short term indicators for GDX are pointing up at the mid-range level. GDX is right up against its short term down trend line and if that line holds it would make a case for the GDX puts. But there are only two days left in the February option cycle and I'm not sure it is worth the risk. I'm pretty sure that it isn't. Patience in waiting for the next decent signal is what is required at the moment. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and closed below the 20 level. Its short term indicators are pointing lower at the mid-range level. Not sure what's next here as the VIX has been in a steady climb since the beginning of the year. Asia and Europe were both up overnight. I'll keep an eye on this evenings headlines.

The short expiration week starts off with some volatility, with a morning decent sell off followed by buying to get back to positive territory. The Dow rose 32 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were sightly positive. The summation index is still trending higher. Most of the major indices posted slight gains. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are trending sideways. We now have a short term buy signal from one of our indicators but it isn't the strongest that we've seen. I did place an overnight order for the SPY February calls but it wasn't filled. I tried to jump in front of the signal and it almost worked. I might try this trade again tomorrow if we see some weakness in the S&P. However this is a short term trade with only three days to go in the February option cycle. Getting filled today would have been a better scenario. I can only make a case for staying in this trade for a day. Gold fell $144 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates finished flat. The XAU dropped 13 1/8 and GDX lost 3 3/4. Volume was above average. The gold shares did come up off of the worst levels for the session. The short term indicators for GDX are pointing down at the mid-range level. No GDX option trades in mind at the moment. Mentally I'm feeling at bit dissatisfied that my overnight order wasn't filled. The VIX was a bit lower today but remains above the 20 level. The short term indicators are still tracking sideways. Not sure where the VIX is heading. I will go over things tonight and decide if the SPY call trade is worth the risk. What was open in Asia finished mixed, while Europe ended the day higher. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Up and down today with not much ground gained or lost when it all was finished. The Dow rose 49 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is trying to turn back up. Inflation data came in a touch lighter than expected. After a brief early dip, stocks spent the first half of the day moving higher and the second half moving lower. The NASDAQ posted a small loss and the S&P 500 finished with the slightest of a gain. The short term indicators for the S&P are beginning to stall. We are almost to the point of a short term buy signal on one of our indicators for the S&P but not there yet. It does imply that weakness can be bought on Tuesday but we will have to go over all the charts this weekend to get a better picture. Gold was up $103 on the futures. The US dollar was slightly lower and interest rates continue to drop. The XAU gained 21 1/2 and GDX climbed 5 1/2. Volume was good heading back to the upside. The short term indicators for GDX are trying to turn back up at the mid-range level. In retrospect selling the GDX puts yesterday was the right decision. The question now is do we try this trade again with only 4 days left in the February option cycle? It's something to ponder over the next three days. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was slightly lower today and is still above the 20 level. Its short term indicators are heading sideways. Not sure where it goes from here. A holiday weekend on tap for the US. Some markets will be closed next week for holidays in Asia. We may perhaps see some thin or skewed trading. I'll be going over things this weekend but any option trade next week would be of high risk with only four days to go before expiration. That said, there will be opportunities. Asia was lower and Europe mixed to close out the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Back to the downside today as the Dow fell 669 points on very heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is beginning to stall. The NASDAQ led that way lower and that continues to be a negative. The TRAN took a big drop today. The S&P 500 fell over 100 points. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are moving lower with plenty of room to go. It appears that my idea of the S&P hitting a new all time high before option expiration was wrong. But we'll have to wait and see what happens tomorrow with the reaction to the inflation data. Gold got clobbered today as the futures lost $157. The US dollar was slightly higher and interest rates dropped. The XAU fell over 30 points and GDX lost 7 1/3. Volume was good to the downside. The short term indicators for GDX have turned back lower with room to go. GDX also closed on the low of the day. I decided not to wait until tomorrow and sold the GDX February puts during the trading session. Probably the wrong decision as they increased in value towards the end of the session. The entry on this trade was OK but could have been better. I'm probably a day early on the exit. It was only one session but the negative price action in gold and the gold shares reiterates my belief that we've seen the parabolic top for these segments. Not a great trade but the gain was 140% in a day. Mentally I'm feeling a bit frustrated as I did not execute the GDX put trade that well. Five days to go in the February option cycle so it is possible that we'll try something else here. A long weekend is coming though and it might be better to sit things out until Tuesday. The VIX jumped as you would expect and closed above the 20 level. The short term indicators here have turned back up with conviction. This implies that we could see more selling early tomorrow morning We'll see. It will probably all depend on the CPI report. Europe and Asia were generally lower overnight. We'll close out the week tomorrow.

Volatility returned early on today and the Dow fell 66 points on pretty heavy volume. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index continues higher. The NASDAQ had a slight loss and the S&P 500 was unchanged. The employment report came in better than expected and that got things moving up and down. There was a gap higher at the open which immediately turned around into a modest loss. The rest of the day was spent in a sideways drift. The short term indicators for the S&P have begun to stall. Next up will be the inflation report on Friday to contend with. I still think that the S&P will be hitting a new all time high soon. Gold was up $81 on the futures. The US dollar finished slighly higher and interest rates were up. The XAU gained over 10 points, while GDX added 3. Volume was average. The short term indicators for GDX are moving up with room to go. My open order for the GDX February calls was filled. It is showing a modest loss. It now looks like this idea was past its time as the technical picture for GDX appears now to be positive. Perhaps it was one of those ideas that I fell in love with and didn't let go. I would like to give it until Friday before bailing out but we'll have to see how tomorrow goes first. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was just a bit lower today. The short term indicators here are moving sideways. Appears as though it could go either way here. The overall technical picture for the stock market is not as clear as I'd like it to be. Six days remain in the February option cycle. Asia was generally higher and Europe generally lower overnight. I'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.