The market is trying to figure out what to do here as the Dow fell 155 points on average volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is moving sideways. There was a gap lower at the open and the rest of the day was spent moving back and forth from negative to positive territory. I'm not sure what will happen next so it will be the sidelines for now regarding the next trade. Inflation data out tomorrow. The short term indicators for the S&P are moving sideways or heading lower. The short term up trend line is still in place but another negative session would put and end to that. Gold was up $47 on the futures to a new all time high. The US dollar was lower and interest rates finished mostly flat. The XAU was up 3 3/8, while GDX added a point. Volume was light. The potential evening star on the GDX daily candlestick chart turned out to be invalid as GDX has now closed above it. Still short term overbought on GDX and staying that way. Getting pretty far from the 50 day moving average here again. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up today and closed on its 50 day moving average. Still short term oversold on many of its indicators. Not sure what we'll see next here for the VIX. Europe and Asia were lower with the exception of Japan. We'll close out the trading week tomorrow.

Sellers had the upper hand today as the Dow fell 132 points on average volume. The advance/declines were shy of 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is beginning to stall. The NASDAQ was by far the weakest today and that is not a plus. The S&P 500 has stalled at its 200 day moving average. The short term indicators here are beginning to turn lower. Could the bounce off of the recent lows be over? Time will tell on that. The short term up trend line for the S&P is still intact. Not in a rush to do any trade here so we'll watch and wait for now. Gold dipped $3 on the futures. The US dollar was up today and interest rates were slightly higher. The XAU was down 1 7/8 and GDX lost 1/3. Volume was pretty light. The short term indicators for GDX are still overbought and now trending sideways as the gold shares try to figure out what's next. Mentally I'm feeling tired. The VIX was higher today which fits a down market. The short term indicators are turning up from oversold territory. This implies higher volatility and lower prices to come. The VIX is still below its 50 day moving average and during up swings it can stay oversold for a while. So the jury is still out on what the VIX means here. Perhaps we'll get better clues tomorrow. Europe was mostly lower and Asia higher with the exception of India overnight. I'll keep an eye on tonights developments.

It was a day of consolidating yesterdays gains as the market simply treaded water and moved sideways on the session. The Dow rose 4 points on good volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is trending higher. The NASDAQ continues to be the outperformer. The S&P 500 had a slight gain as the short term indicators continue to move up. I'm waiting on a some kind of techincal signal to attempt the next trade. Not sure how long that will take. No hurry as the option premiums are high since we just rolled into the April cycle. Gold was up $9 on the futures. The US dollar was slightly lower as were interest rates. The XAU was up 2 7/8, while GDX added 3/4. Volume was light. The gold shares finished off of their best levels on the day. The daily candlestick chart for GDX has a potential shooting star top in place after today but we'll have to wait and see where things go from here for that to be valid. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was down and closed below its 200 day moving average. The short term indicators here are oversold but can stay that way during rallies. Not sure what's next here for the VIX but there is an up trend line that comes in around 16 which is a point away. I'm leaning towards trying the SPY April puts if it gets above 580 and the short term indicators are overbought. Hasn't happened yet. Europe and Asia trended higher with the exception of the Hang Seng. We'll see where things go tomorrow.

A huge gap up at the open and the market never looked back as the Dow gained 598 points on good volume. The advance/declines were around 3 to 1 positive. The summation index is trying to get some upside momentum. The NASDAQ was the leader and that is always a plus. We had plenty of medium term buy signals and today verifies that. The S&P 500 finally broke through the short term down trend line that was in control since mid-February when the decline began. Interesting that stocks waited until after option expiration to get things going. The short term indicators on the S&P are moving higher with room to go. It closed above the 200 day moving average with the 50 day as the next resistance. We never did get a retest of the lows. I'll wait for the next decent technical signal before entering the next trade. Can we just keep moving up here and on to new all time highs? Anything is possible in the marketplace but I'm not counting on that scenario. Gold was off $8 on the futures. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU was flat and GDX dropped 1/4. Volume was light. GDX remains short term overbought with the indicators trending sideways. No trades here for now. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The VIX was lower today and now is firmly below the 20 level. The short term indicators are oversold. The VIX closed below its 50 day moving average with the 200 day in sight. I'd be surprised if the VIX turns around and heads back over 20 right away but anything goes in this game. Asia was generally higher and Europe slightly lower to begin the trading week. We'll keep an eye on tonight headlines.

We had a pretty dramatic one day reversal today with a huge gap lower at the open only to claw our way back for the rest of the session to eventually eek out a small gain. The Dow added 32 points on expiration heavy volume. The advance/declines were around 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is tracking sideways to higher. Once again volatility ruled the day. The NASDAQ led the way back. The Dow was off 500 points in the morning. The S&P 500 managed a minor gain as the short term indicators are moving up. The opening gap down killed my SPY March call options. Having a stop limit order in place didn't matter as the opening premium for the options was well below the limit price. It turned into a 95% loss overnight. I really don't do well on the short term trades. The only saving grace was that there wasn't a lot of money involved since I never have much success on the short term deals. The short term down trend line is still in effect for the S&P but I'm pretty sure that won't last much longer. Some of our medium term indicators are flashing buy signals so some kind of rally should be at hand. Gold was off $18 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates finished flat. The XAU fell 2 1/4, while GDX lost 2/3. Volume was about average. The gold shares finished up from their worst levels on teh day. Mentally I'm feeling disappointed as you would expect with a losing trade booked. The market certainly doesn't care and you've got to move on from it. The VIX again finished lower from the best levels of the day and is below the 20 level. Some of its short term indicators are oversold. I'm not getting a good idea of where the VIX is heading next. Still above both the 50 and 200 day moving averages there. Plenty of work to do over the weekend as we roll into the April option cycle. Europe and Asia finished Friday lower with the exception of India. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Volatility took over today as we opened with a huge gap down, came all the way back to show a nice gain only to fall back again and then drift in the final hour. The Dow lost 11 points on good volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is tracking sideways. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 posted small losses. The S&P 500 is finding stiff resistance at the short term down trend line that comes in around 5700. It has tried and failed three times there this week. This is something that I did not expect as perhaps things are weaker than they seem to me. The short term indicators are moving sideways on the S&P. I'm still holding on to the March SPY calls but with only a Friday trading session left this trade is now looking like it won't work. It's now showing a loss. We'll see how things go tomorrow. Gold was up a dozen on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates finished flat. The XAU and GDX were both little changed on very light volume. GDX remains short term overbought. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX bounced around but ended the day barely lower. Some of its short term indicators have reached oversold territory. I'm not sure what's next for the VIX. Not sure what's next for the market but with that down trend line holding on perhaps we're in for a retest of the recent lows. That would kill my SPY call trade tomorrow. However markets go where they want so we'll have to wait and see. Europe and Asia finished lower with the exception of India. Expiration Friday on tap.

It was an upside day from the start as the Dow gained 383 points on good volume. The advance/declines were shy of 3 to 1 positive. The summation index is trying to turn back up. The Fed came and went with no surprises. It could have been a better day but we sold off in the last hour. The NASDAQ led the way and that's a plus. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are trying to turn back up but not there yet. I did leave an order out there for the SPY March calls overnight but it wasn't filled this morning. I once again adjusted it and it got filled. The entry timing is obviously off as yesterday would have been a better entry. Only 2 days left in the March option cycle so this idea is full of risk. It is showing a small profit but the premium is way below its best level on the session. I plan on holding it into Friday as of right now. Gold was up $16 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates ended a bit lower. The XAU was up 1 1/4 and GDX rose 1/3. Volume was light. Still short term overbought for GDX on the daily indicators. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The VIX was lower today and closed just below 20. The short term indicators are reaching the oversold territory but not completely. I'm still not sure what to expect next for the VIX. I'm in the next trade now and that will require all of my attention. Might put in a limit order to sell and see if it gets hit tomorrow. However holding out until Friday seems like the better plan at the moment. More than the usual amount of risk though. Asia and Europe ended mixed. We'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.