Still a mixed picture on Wall street as the Dow gained 139 points on light volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is moving down. The Dow outperformed as the NASDAQ posted a small loss and the S&P 500 finished flat. It was an up and down trading session for most of the day. We got a signal last night for a big move within the next two days from the McClellan oscillator. We'll see if that pans out tomorrow. I still think prices are heading higher from here. Perhaps the earnings report from NVDA after the bell can get things going. The short term indicators for the S&P are still trying to turn back up. Gold was up another twenty bucks today. The US dollar was higher and interest rates ticked up. The XAU and GDX had fractional losses on light volume. The gold shares did not follow the precious metal higher today. That isn't a bullish development. The short term indicators for GDX are now mid-range. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX finished higher today which doesn't exactly fit with the market closing prices today. The short term indicators are slowly moving up. Not sure what to expect next from this indicator but it's still below the 50 day moving average. It seems like the market is trying to make up its mind what to do here. Europe finished lower and Asia was up with the exception of Japan. I'll keep an eye on the overnight headlines.

Once again a mixed bag as the Dow was down and the overall market moved higher. The most watched index fell 120 points on average volume. The advance/declines were slightly negative. The summation index is moving lower. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 had one day upside reversals as they gapped lower at the open only to then move higher the rest of the session. The short term indicators for the S&P are trying to turn back up from mid-range levels. I think that they will be successful as I'm still looking for more upside in the near term for stocks. I could be wrong but we'll see in the coming days. Gold was up another $23 on the futures. The US dollar finished flat and interest rates were slightly lower. The XAU rose 3 points and GDX was up 7/8. Volume was average. The short term indicators for GDX have turned up with plenty of room to go. Have we missed a GDX call trade here? Perhaps. GDX did break above its short term down trend line today. I'll keep an eye on it here but we'll have to see where it goes for the rest of the week. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher today despite the gains for the overall market. Not sure what to make of that. Still short term oversold but not completely so. The VIX did remain below its 50 day moving average. Waiting on NVDA earnings after the bell tomorrow for most likely the next big market mover. Trying to remain patient for now. Asia higher and Europe lower overnight. We'll see how Wednesday goes.

A little bounce back in the overall market to begin the week but the Dow fell 55 points on average volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is still heading lower. The NASDAQ outperformed today. The S&P had a slight gain. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are beginning to stall at mid-range. So things could go either way from here. My guess is that we will start to move back up from here. It is a light week for economic data. The earnings highlight will be NVDA after the bell on Wednesday. Option premiums are high with an extra week in the December cycle. I'm on the sidelines until further notice. Gold jumped $44 on the futures today. The US dollar was lower and interst rates ened the day flat. The XAU gained 6 points, while GDX added 1 1/2. Volume was good to the upside. The short term indicators for GDX have turned back up but it remains oversold. Not sure if today was just an oversold bounce or the beginning of something sustained to the upside. I'm inclined to think that it is the former. Still below the short term down trend line on GDX. Another day like today would get us through there though. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and is back below the 200 day moving average. The short term indicators remain oversold. My idea is that the VIX goes lower from here and stocks resume their up trend. We'll see. Asia was generally higher and Europe mixed to begin the week. I'll keep an eye on the overnight headlines.

We certainly did not see the usual positive option expiration bias this week as today the Dow fell 305 points on good volume. The advance/declines were around 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is moving lower. The NASDAQ led the way down and that is not a plus. The major indices had gaps down at the open and the selling continued for much of the rest of the day. Markets managed to move sideways for the final couple of hours. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 have now rolled over with plenty of room to go. The weekly candlestick chart here suggests at least some sideways price movement unless we see a big rally next week. I was looking for higher prices in the short term and that was wrong. Not sure where we go from here but will have to check all the charts over the weekend. Gold was off another five bucks on the futures. The US dollar was slightly higher and interest rates finished flat. The XAU was off 1 1/2 and GDX lost 1/4. Volume was average. GDX remains short term oversold and is hanging in at its 200 day moving average for now. GDX technically hit a bear market this week as it is down 20% from the recent high. We will try and wait for things to sort themselves here before trying the GDX options again. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up today but off of its best levels on the session. The short term indicators here turned up but remain oversold. I thought the VIX was pointing to higher near term stock prices as well and that was incorrect. I'm not sure where it goes from here but it is still far off from the 20 level although it did pop above the 200 day moving average today. This weeks stock price action puts into question whether the election rally will continue. We'll know more as we get into next week. Rolling into the December option cycle and the premiums will be high. I'm on the sidelines for now. Asia mixed and Europe slightly lower to close out the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Lower today as the Dow fell 207 points on average volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is beginning to trend down. Producer prices came in about where expected. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are starting to roll over but remain overbought. I don't think that the rally is finished here but I could be wrong. Expiration Friday on tap tomorrow. Gold was off $13 on the futures. The US dollar was up and interest rates finished mixed again. The XAU was up 1 1/4, while GDX had a fractional gain. Volume was good. GDX bounced off of its 200 day moving average today. It remains short term oversold with plenty of techncial damage done for the bulls. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX finished flat despite the drop in stocks. Not sure what that means. The VIX is still short term oversold and staying that way. It still implies higher market prices going forward. Europe higher and Asia lower overnight. We'll see how expiration Friday turns out tomorrow.

Back and forth today as the Dow rose 47 points on average volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is tracking sideways. Todays inflation data came in where expected. It was a mixed bag for stocks as the NASDAQ posted a loss on the session. The S&P 500 had a slight gain and remains short term overbought. We are in a waiting mode for now when it comes to the next trade. Two days left in option expiration week. Then we roll into the December option cycle which has an extra week in it plus a Thanksgiving holiday week. So unless we get a very good signal, I'll be sitting things out for a while most likely. Gold was down $26 on the futures. The US dollar was higher yet again and interest rates finished mixed. The XAU dipped 2 1/4 and GDX slipped 1/2. Volume was a bit above average. Short term oversold and staying there for GDX. Almost to the 200 day moving average at the 35 level. GDX has dropped about 20% in around a month from the recent high. That's quite a move in a short period of time. It is probably best to let things settle down in the gold shares before trying to trade them again. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower again today and remains short term oversold. It looks like the VIX will stay oversold for a while. There doesn't appear to be anything in the way of the current stock market rally. Europe and Asia were generally lower overnight. We'll get a Fed chairman speech and inflation data out tomorrow.

Sellers returned today as the Dow fell 382 points on average volume. The advance/declines were around 4 to 1 negative. This will have the summation index moving sideways. The Dow led the way lower and that isn't the most bearish scenario. Waiting on tomorrows inflation data. The S&P 500 remains short term overbought. We are in a watch and wait mode for now. Gold continues to fall as the futures dropped another ten bucks. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU shed 2 1/4, while GDX was off over 1/2. Volume was heavy again to the downside. GDX remains short term oversold and below the lower Bollinger band. Looks like it's on the way to the 200 day moving average. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and that doesn't fit with a down market. Short term oversold and staying there for the VIX. My guess is that it continues sideways to lower for the rest of this week. Not much else to report today. Moving on from yesterdays loss. Haven't seen the usual option expiration week positive bias yet. Asia and Europe were down in last nights trading. We'll see what Wednesday has to offer.