The Dow was the laggard once again as it fell 79 points on good volume. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index continues higher. The NASDAQ by far was the leader today and that is a plus for the bulls. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 ended the week at new all time highs. No overhead resistance. The short term indicators for the S&P remain in overbought territory. The rally for stocks continues after moving sideways for most of the week. Still at the mercy of the next Iran conflict sound bite but it doesn't seem to mean as much to the market anymore. Technically the S&P is overbought, staying that way and we are not going to fight that right now. Gold was up nine bucks on the futures. The US dollar was lower along with interest rates. The XAU rose almost 6 points and GDX was up over 2. Volume was light. The short term indicators for GDX are trying to turn back up. I'm still not a fan of the gold shares now but we should wait for them to get back to short term overbought before attempting the GDX puts again. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and the short term indicators here continue in a sideways pattern. The daily chart here still looks like it wants to go lower and the indicators are not completely oversold. Remaining below the 20 level and that is a positive. I'll be checking the charts as usual over the weekend to try and form a game plan for next week. Stocks are in rally mode but we are soon heading into a period of underperformance on a seasonality basis. Asia was mixed and Europe lower to close out the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Volatility was the name of the game today and the Dow finished with a loss of 179 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were slightly negative. The summation index is still moving higher. The NASDAQ led the way lower. The S&P 500 hit a new intra-day high early on and then fell 100 points. It made its way back to more than cut the losses in half by the close. The short term indicators there are still overbought but may be trying to roll over here. We'll have to see how the week closes. Gold dropped $40 on the futures. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU lost 11 and GDX shed 2 1/4. Volume was good to the downside for the gold shares again. The short term indicators for GDX are back to heading down. I canceled my open order for the GDX May puts as it is already heading down and the ideal time for purchase has passed. This idea might still work but we are going to have to see some upside first for the gold shares before trying it. For now it appears to be another missed opportunity. Mentally I'm feeling tired. The VIX was a bit higher today which fits a down market. It did move above the 20 level today but made its way back below that level by the close. The short term indicators here are still oversold but not completely so and moving sideways. Not sure where the VIX is headed next but the daily candlestick chart looks like it wants to go lower. I am now looking at the SPY May puts but the premiums are still high with just over three weeks to go in the May option cycle. We will probably let tomorrow got by and take it from there. Asia was lower and Europe mixed last night. I'll keep an eye on this evenings headlines.

Back to the upside as the Dow climbed 340 points on good volume. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index is moving higher. The NASDAQ led the way today and that's a plus. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 closed at new all time highs. There is no overhead resistance. The short term indicators for the S&P are stuck in overbought territory. It appears that we had a two day pause in the rally and it has now resumed. But today the TRAN got killed with a huge move lower and that is something to keep an eye on. Gold was up $40 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates up just a touch. The XAU rose 6 1/2 and GDX was up around 1 1/2. Volume was light. The short term indicators for GDX are beginning to stall and have not reached oversold territory yet. I did place an open order for the GDX May puts overnight and I'm leaving it out there. However if the indicators start to move up I will cancel that order. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was down today and that fits with the overall higher market. The short term indicators continue to hang around the oversold area. As long as the VIX remains below the 20 level we can conclude that the rally still has legs. News out of Iran doesn't move the markets as much now as it did before. We'll see if that trend continues. Asia finished mixed and Europe was down again overnight. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Sellers took over today as the Dow fell 293 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were around 3 to 1 negative. The summation index is still moving up. It was a one day downside reversal as stocks opened higher and closed lower. Retail sales came in better than expected. Markets are still being held hostage to whatever comes out of the Iran conflict. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are still overbought but are beginning to roll over. We will see if there is any follow through selling tomorrow. Gold got whacked as the futures fell $130. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU lost 24 1/4 and GDX shed 6 1/8. Volume was good to the downside. The short term indicators on GDX are moving down in a hurry. It looks like I've missed the GDX May put trade. It is frustrating but the market doesn't care about our frustrations. The put trade idea still might have some merit but we'll have to see where the rest of the week goes. However after todays price action it looks like this ship has sailed. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was a bit higher today but down from its best levels on the session. The short term indicators here are trying to move up from oversold territory. A move above the 20 level would be a cause for concern for the bulls but that hasn't happened yet. For now it seems that earnings are still taking a back seat to the daily developments out of Iran. We wonder how long this will go on and can only guess when it stops. Tougher than usual trading environment. Asia higher and Europe lower again. I'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.

We had some minor selling to begin the week as the Dow dipped 4 points on good volume. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index is moving up. Stocks stayed in negative territory for much of the day but it was mainly a sideways session with small losses booked for most major averages. The short term indicators are still overbought for the S&P 500. Waiting to see if the Iran cease-fire gets extended on Wednesday. Stocks remain at the mercy of the next war sound bite but it doesn't seem to have the same effect as it did earlier. I'm still in the camp of waiting for things to return to some kind of normal before making the next trade. Gold dropped $46 on the futures. The US dollar was a touch lower and interest rates finished a touch higher. The XAU was off 5 1/3, while GDX lost 1 1/8. Volume for GDX was pretty light. The short term indicators here are still overbought but not extremely so. I'm still considering the GDX May puts for the next trade. Mentally I'm feeling tired. The VIX was higher today but remains short term oversold. It got up to the 20 level during the session but backed off. Not sure exactly what's next for the VIX but I would not be surprised if it simply remains oversold as stocks trend higher in the near term. Plenty of earnings reports out this week. Not much on the economic calendar with the exception of retail sales tomorrow. Asia higher and Europe lower to start the trading week overseas. The market is waiting on the cease-fire deadline for now.

The rally continues unabated as the Dow gained 868 points on pretty heavy volume. It was up over a thousand points during the day. The advance/declines were better than 3 to 1 positive. The summation index is rising. The Dow was the leader today which isn't the most bullish scenario but we'll take it. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 had big gains as well to close at new all time highs. There is no overhead resistance. The extreme short term overbought condition for the S&P remains. It has been a straight line up since the start of April. Not sure when or how it ends but it has lasted much longer than we expected. We're certainly not going to try and fight it. Remaining on the sidelines with regards to the SPY options for now as the usual technical indicators just are not working here. Gold was up $67 on the futures. The US dollar was just a touch lower and interest rates dropped. The XAU was up 12 1/2 and GDX added over 2 3/4. Volume was average. The short term indicators for GDX remain overbought. I'm still looking at the GDX May puts but am in no hurry to purchase them as we are just rolling into the May option cycle. Mentally I'm feeling tired. The VIX is still moving lower and the market is still moving higher. That fits. The short term indicators here are still very oversold which occurs during strong rallies like the one we are currently in. This techncial condition can persist for a few weeks at times. It is another reason why we have to remain more cautious than usual with any trades for now. Stocks are having a huge bull run that can last longer than you think or end in a hurry. We'll simply wait until market conditions are better for trading in my view. I'll be checking the charts as usual over the weekend. Europe was higher and Asia lower with the exception of India to close out the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a rest.

It was pretty much a sideways affair today with most of the major averages posting small gains. The Dow rose 115 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were just about even. The summation index continues higher. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 closed at new all time highs again. The short term indicators for the S&P remain extremely overbought. Expiration Friday on tap tomorrow. We remain on the sidelines with regards to the SPY options for now. Gold was off about ten bucks on the futures. The US dollar finished higher and interest rates ticked up. The XAU was off about 1 2/3, while GDX dipped 1/8. Volume is still light here. The short term indicators for GDX have started to push sideways. I am now looking at the GDX May puts here. Mentally I'm feeling tired. The VIX is still moving down and is still short term oversold. Everything here seems to say that the rally will have staying power. The market is at the tail end of the positive seasonal period. So perhaps it will continue to push up into May and then we'll have to see what happens. Headline risk has seemed to diminish recently and that is a plus for the trading. I'll remain patient for now as that appears to be the best path to take at this time. Asia and Europe were generally higher. We'll see how expiration Friday fares tomorrow.