Volatility remains the name of the game for now as the Dow fell 61 points on good volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is in the process of trying to turn around. There was a huge gap lower for stocks at the open only to be followed by a run back up to positive territory in the next hour. Pretty much sideways after that. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 had one day upside reversals. Advantage to the bulls. The short term indicators for the S&P are still moving up but some are beginning to head sideways. Depending on what happens over the long weekend it's anyones guess how Monday turn out. I'm still staying on the sidelines with regards to the SPY options for now. Gold lost $111 on the futures. The US dollar was higehr and interest rates finished flat. The XAU dipped 2 1/3 and GDX lost 1 1/3 on average volume. Some of the short term indicators on GDX are still moving up while others have stalled mirroring the overall technical market action. The fact that gold itself took a big hit and the gold shares held up rather wall is a plus for the precious metal bulls. I'm still considering the GDX April puts as the next trade but will be looking at things over the weekend which may change my mind. It is a trickier than usual trading environment at the moment due to the increased volatility in most markets. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today. The short term indicators here are trending down. The VIX closed below its short term up trend line. An extra day this weekend to go over the charts and try to figure where we go from here. The market remains in headline risk mode. There's still two weeks left in the April option cycle so we will try and get something done. Asia and Europe were both lower, with India and England bucking the trend. It's Thursday afternoon and time for a rest.

Follow through upside today as the Dow gained 224 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were around 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is trying to turn around. The NASDAQ led the way again and that is positive for the bulls. The S&P 500 had a nice gain although it did drop back from the highs on the session. The short term indicators here are moving up with room to go. It does fell like we've seen the worst and stocks can find some footing here. However president Trump is giving a speech about the Iran war tonight so anything goes after that. Stocks are still at the mercy of the next sound bite. As we have seen lately it can get things going in either direction. Gold was up $116 on the futures. The US dollar was lower and interest rates ticked up. The XAU gained 15 1/4, while GDX added 3 7/8. Volume was good to the upside again. The short term indicators for GDX are moving up. Not yet overbought here. We missed the gold share calls here. I am now looking at the GDX April puts as my next trade. Not in a hurry to put this trade on so I will probably let tomorrow go by and look at it next week. Unless we see another big day for the gold shares tomorrow. If GDX gets up to 100 I'll be attempting to purchase those April puts. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and is right on its short term up trend line from the past month. The short term indicators here are still trying to move lower from the mid-range level. If the VIX can make it down through its short term up trend line it would be a plus for the bulls. However there is still the longer term up trend line to contend with at the 21 level. One thing at a time though. Only a day left in the shortened trading week and we still have the question of who will want to hold stocks over what is now going to be a long weekend? We'll see how markets react to the Trump speech and go from there. Asia and Europe climbed higher in last nights trade. I'll keep watch on the overnight developments.

A huge rally today as signs that the war with Iran is coming to a close. The Dow roared ahead by 1125 points on pretty heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 3 to 1 positive. The summation index is still moving lower but could stall and turn here at the zero line if this rise continues. We don't know what will happen next. Usually in extended declines or bear markets you get some kind of big rally out of nowhere and we saw that today. The key will be if we see some follow through to the upside or not. Things could just as easily head back down tomorrow. The NASDAQ led the way as it gained almost 4% and that's a plus. The S&P 500 was up 184 points in a day. The short term indicators there are now moving up. It certainly has the feel that the decline is over. We'll see. Gold was up 157 points on the futures. The US dollar was lower along with interest rates. The XAU jumped 24 3/4 and GDX climbed 5 2/3. Volume was good to the upside. The short term indicators for GDX are moving higher now as well. I canceled my open order for the GDX April calls as that ship has sailed. My thinking now is to wait for a short term overbought condition and try the GDX puts again. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX sank today and most of its short term indicators are moving down. The longer term up trend line for the VIX comes in at 21. What happens there will tell us whether the decline has ended or not. We are still over four points away from there though so there is room for the VIX to drop and stocks to rise. An interesting day on the street to be sure. But we are still at the mercy of the next headline. Asia lower and Europe higher again. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

A mixed bag to begin a short trading week with the Dow higher and the overall market lower. The most watched index rose 49 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were about even. The summation index continues lower. The NASDAQ is still the weakest of the bunch and that's a negative. A late, last half hour rise kept things from being worse. The S&P 500 had a modest loss. The short term indicators here are stuck in oversold territory. You could begin to make a case for some kind of oversold bounce to occur but just as easily say things will fall apart with the summation index crossing the zero line. Our question remains who will want to own stocks at the end of this week heading into a long weekend? No SPY option trades in mind at the moment. Gold was up $18 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates were lower. The XAU dipped 3 3/4, while GDX was flat. Volume was about average. The short term indicators on GDX are starting to move sideways. I did place an order overnight for the GDX April calls and I'm leaving it out there. No hurry to get filled on this idea for a trade but if things collapse I would like to have an order out there to possibly get filled. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was a touch lower today and its short term indicators are beginning to stall. Still not completely overbought here. Not sure what's next for the VIX. Not a lot of economic data due this week. Februarys retail sales on Wednesday and the jobs report will come out when the markets are closed on Friday. We are still being held hostage to whatever happens with the war in Iran. Europe higher and Asia lower to start the week. I'll keep an eye on the overnight headlines.

Still heading down as the Dow fell 793 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 3 to 1 negative. The summation index is moving lower. It is heading for the now inevitable crossing of the zero line to the downside. Stocks will continue to drop, we just don't know how far. Unless the Iran war ends all of a sudden but we are not counting on that. The NASDAQ is still leading the way down and that's a negative. The S&P 500 dropped over 100 points again. The short term indicators here are oversold and staying that way. The next area of support for the S&P comes in around 6100. However we are not going to try and predict the bottom at this time. Option premiums remain high. Gold was up $134 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates finished mixed. The XAU gained 12 1/4, while GDX added 3 1/2. Volume was good. Today was the first time in a while that we saw the gold shares higher when the overall market was lower. Take note. It appears that the decline in gold is over. The short term indicators for GDX are trying to move up. We will be looking for any near term pullback in GDX to try and purchase the April calls. This looks to be the next trade. The fact that gold itself recovered what it lost yesterday is a plus for the precious metal bulls. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher today and is now above 30. It usually doesn't stay that high for long but with the current technical condition of the market, who knows? The short term indicators here are into overbought territory. Plenty of work to do over the weekend as we try and come up with the best trading scenario moving forward. I'll be checking the charts as usual. Also a short trading week on tap as exchanges will be closed on Friday the 3rd. Asia was mixed and Europe down to end the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Stocks headed back down today as the Dow fell 469 points on good volume. The advance/declines were shy of 3 to 1 negative. The summation index is back to heading lower. The fact that it is close to the zero line must be taken into account. Things will get ugly if we don't see a turnaround. The NASDAQ led the way lower again, this time dropping over 500 points. The S&P 500 lost over a hundred. The short term indicators on the S&P turned back down in oversold territory. It closed at a new low for the year. The bears are in charge. Tomorrow should be interesting. Who will want to own stocks ahead of the weekend? Gold got clobbered as the futures fell $191. The US dollar was higher and so were interest rates. The XAU dipped 12 1/2 and GDX lost 3 3/4. This time volume was good to the downside. The short term indicators for GDX turned lower in oversold territory following the overall market. What we would like to see is the gold shares falling to a new low for the chance to try the GDX April calls. Markets rarely cooperate however. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up today and remains above the 20 level. The short term indicators here are back to pointing up. No telling where the VIX is going next. But if we see the summation index plow through the zero line, the VIX will be headed higher. As I stated earlier we have to be aware of this possibility due to the current location of the summation index. It is usually nowhere near the zero line. When it goes through that line things fall apart. Things need to turnaround in a hurry to avoid this. Anything is possible when markets are held hostage to the next sound bite. Europe and Asia were down with the exception of India. We'll close out the trading week tomorrow.

Moving higher today as the Dow was up 305 points on good volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is beginning to stall. Once again the NASDAQ was the leader. The S&P 500 had another modest gain. It has fallen back from its best levels on the day for three days in a row now. The short term indicators are moving up but slowly. I'm not sure if the S&P is going to turn higher from here or it is just stalling before a collapse. The zero line on the summation index is within striking distance. So what happens now in the next few days will be the key to where we are going. The market is still at the mercy of the next headline. Gold was up $114 on the futures. The US dollar was a bit higher and interest rates were lower. The XAU gained 8 3/4, while GDX was up 2 3/4. Volume was good to the upside. The short term indicators for GDX are moving up but are still on the oversold side of the ledger. Looks too late for the GDX calls now as we will have to change strategy. We'll now look for the GDX April puts when it gets short term overbought. We will be looking for a retest of the recent lows. All subject to change though as we wait for the gold market to provide some clues. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today which fits with an up market. The short term indicators here have now drifted back lower. No conviction either way on the indicators. The longer term up trend line that began in January for the VIX is still in effect. Simply waiting on what's next for the markets as the week goes by. Looking for the next signal to trade. Options premiums remain high. Patience for now. Asia and Europe were higher as hopes for an end to the Iran conflict gains steam. We'll see how things go tomorrow.