A bounce back today as the inflation data came in where expected and the Dow climbed 654 points on light volume. The advance/declines were 4 to 1 positive. This should have the summation index moving back up. The Dow led things higher today. Some of the short term indicators for the S&P 500 are turning back up from oversold readings. Ideally we'd like to see the bounce continue to the down trend line that comes in at around 5500 or so. That would be the spot to try the SPY August puts unless we see an increase in the volume through that area. Things should remain interesting next week with the Fed in the middle of the week and then the jobs report on Friday. Earnings for better or for worse will be a factor as well. The under performance of the NASDAQ is a negative here in my view. We'll certainly be keeping an eye on things. Gold was up $32 on the futures. The US dollar finished flat again and interest rates were lower. The XAU was up a point and GDX rose almost 1/3. Volume was light. A nice rise in gold itself but the gold shares didn't do much. That is not a plus for the bulls here. GDX is close to short term oversold on some of the daily indicators. I'm going to try and wait see if it makes it to the up trend line at 35.5. However I'm not as sure about the GDX calls here as I was earlier. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and that fits an up market. The short term indicators here are rolling over and the daily candlestick chart looks like it wants to go lower. This would imply higher stock prices in the near future. Still above the 200 day moving average though. Quite a week it was and plenty to consider over the weekend. I'll be checking the charts as usual to try and decide which way to go. The Fed, economic data, earnings and the end of the month on tap on tap next week. Asia was mixed and Europe higher to end the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Trying to stabalize today and the market made a good attempt but then dropped again late in the day. The Dow managed a gain of 81 points on good volume. The advance/declines were 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is beginning to move sideways. GDP came in above expectations. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 posted losses on the session. The S&P is now short term oversold on most of the daily indicators. The trend now is obviously lower and we'll wait for the S&P to get back to the near term down trend line or become short term overbought before attempting the August SPY puts. We'll get inflation data reported tomorrow and that should get things moving. Plus earnings as they come out. Would like to see a light volume rally back to the down trend line in a perfect world to try the puts. There is plenty of time left in the August option cycle. Gold was sold and the futures lost over fifty bucks. The US dollar finished flat once again and interest rates were mixed. The XAU dropped 3 2/3, while GDX shed a point. Volume was good to the downside. GDX is almost to the up trend line at 35.5 which is also where the 50 day moving average is. Another down day like today and I'll have to reconsider trying the GDX August calls here. The gold shares are holding up better than gold now. However the longer term charts for gold and silver don't look all that bullish at the moment. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up today and that fits with the overall market. The short term indicators remain overbought. Getting closer to 20 but not there yet. How the market reacts to the inflation data will probably be the key to how things go tomorrow. I'm a believer now that rallies can be sold in the overall market. It has already been quite a week but we still have one more day. Asia and Europe were lower with the exception of the FTSE. We'll see how Friday goes.

Heading for the exits as stocks got slammed on some big tech earnings announcements. A gap lower at the open followed by selling for the rest of the day. The Dow fell 504 points on average volume. The advance/declines were better than 4 to 1 negative. The summation index is back to moving sideways. The NASDAQ led the way lower and lost more than 3 1/2%. The S&P 500 dropped over 125 points. It broke the longer term up trend line on the daily chart today and that should spell more trouble going forward. The S&P managed to hold at its 50 day moving average. It is not yet completely short term oversold yet. The weekly chart indicators have plenty of romm to head lower. There should be some support at 5200 but the next up trend line doesn't come in until 4600. I'm not saying that we are heading all the way down there tomorrow but those are some levels to watch. There is a down trend line now in place on the S&P daily chart. Any move back to that line will be an opportunity to try the SPY August puts. Gold lost $7 on the futures after being higher early on. The US dollar finished flat and interest rates were mixed. The XAU drpped 1 1/3, while GDX shed almost 1/4. Volume was average. I did place an order for the GDX August calls overnight but it wasn't filled. Might try it again tomorrow or simply hold off. The short term indicators for GDX are now mid-range. The up trend line for GDX comes in at 35.5 and maybe I'll just wait to see if it gets back to that level before trying the calls. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX jumped today and that certainly fits with the carnage that we saw in stocks. The short term indicators are back to overbought. Still below the 20 level but it has made it back to 18. No extended summer doldrums in this July period as we've had good moves in both directions so far. GDP out tomorrow and inflation data to end the week on Friday. Plus whatever surprises we get from earnings. Hopefully we'll be able to take advantage of some of the opportunites. Europe and Asia were down and we'll probably see some more selling when they reopen. I'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.

Hanging around in the summer as the Dow was off 57 points on light volume. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index is heading higher. There were slight losses for the major stock indices with the exception of the TRAN which had a bigger drop. The S&P 500 is still trying to decide what to do here. The short term indicators here are below mid-range but not yet oversold. Waiting on data out later this week. Patience for now. Gold was up $15 on the futures. The US dollar finished a bit higher and interest rates a bit lower. The XAU had a fractional gain and GDX ended the day flat. Volume was extremely light. Waiting for a signal here to try the GDX August calls. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX finished lower but did close still above its 200 day moving average. After last weeks volatility it suddenly feels like summer again. But things can change in a hurry in this game. I'll try and stay patient for the time being. Europe and Asia both finished mixed in last nights overseas trading. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Bouncing back today which wasn't unexpected as the Dow gained 127 points on light volume. The advance/declines were around 3 to 1 positive. This should move the summation index back up. The NASDAQ was the leader by far today and that's a plus. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are turning back up. Are we going back to new all time highs or is this the snap back to the recent broken up trend line? I'm inclined to think that it's the latter but we might take time to build some kind of top here this week. We've got the first look at 2nd quarter GDP along with inflation data out later in the week. Earnings will be coming out as well. I am looking at the SPY August puts. Gold was up a buck on the futures. The US dollar finished flat and interest rates ticked up. The XAU and GDX had slight fractional gains on light volume. The short term indicators for GDX are trying to turn back up. I'm still considering the GDX August calls however GDX isn't close to being oversold on the daily chart. There is plenty of time left in the August option cycle as we have just rolled into it. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and its short term indicators have rolled over on the daily chart. Back within the Bollinger bands but still above the 200 day moving average here. I'm not sure what's next for the VIX. For now we'll just keep our eye on things as the week progresses and see if any perceived opportunities arise. Asia lower and Europe higher overnight. I'll keep watch on the evenings developments.

Another day another loss as the Dow fell 377 points on light volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is beginning to move sideways. The Dow led the way down. There was an overnight computer glitch that affected trading at many online brokerages including mine which is also in the process of changing platforms. Now trading itself is hard enough without the sites that you are using to do it creating even more problems. But this is the reality of electronic trading. We'll see what happens on Monday. The S&P 500 had a pretty negative week. The short term indicators here are now mid-range or lower. The weekly indicators have turned down and have plenty of room to move lower. We'll look for a move back to the down trend line that was just broken on the daily chart. That might give us a chance at the SPY August puts. Gold got clocked as the futures fell $56. The US dollar was up along with interest rates. The XAU dropped 1 3/4, while GDX shed 1/2. Volume was average. The gold shares held up well despite the drop in gold and that is bullish. They also finished up from the lows on the day. Today could have been the completion of the move back to the longer term down trend line on the weekly chart. We'll know as time moves on. I still favor the GDX August calls at some point but will need a working platform to trade them. Mentally I'm feeling frustrated but the market doesn't care. The VIX was higher today and that fits a down market. The short term indicators are overbought. I'd expect the VIX to try and move lower next week. Quite an eventful expiration week in July with plenty of price movement. Throw in a computer mess and it makes you wonder why we try and trade at all. It's all part of the game though. We'll check the charts over the next couple of days and try to figure out a game plan going forward. Europe and Asia finished the week lower. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Stocks in general opened higher and closed lower for a one day downside reversal. The Dow got clobbered and lost 533 points on average volume. The advance/declines were better than 3 to 1 negative. The summation index is still moving higher. The Dow led the way lower today. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 closed up from the lows of the session thanks to some final hour buying. The S&P 500 has now broken its up trend line that began in the beginning of May. That is not a positive sign. The short term indicators there have turned down with room to go. We could see a snap back up to the line that was just broken but the tone of things has changed here. Volatility has picked up and there is a good chance that the party for stocks is over for now. That doesn't mean it will be a straight line down but caution for now is probably not a bad idea. Gold was off $14 on the futures. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU fell 3 points while GDX was lower by more than 1/2. Volume was light. The short term indicators for GDX have turned down but it remains on the overbought side. I'm still considering the GDX August calls and almost placed an order for them today. However if the overall market does tank here it will probably take the gold shares with it. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX continued higher and now is well above its 200 day moving average. Not yet close to the 20 level though. Short term overbought here now on the VIX so a pause in the volatility is not out of the question. The weekly indicators still have plenty of room to go higher. A busy summer expiration week so far with only one day left. Europe and Asia finished mixed overnight. We'll see how expiration Friday goes.