This post will have to be quick because the site went down and I have no time. Dow up 74 points on good volume. Advance/declines almost 3 to 1 positive. A turnaround from yesterday. I think we have found a bottom. I don't think we will collapse. I would like to get some calls. I'll look tomorrow as the prices remain high. Gold was down 10 bucks bit the XAU rose over 2 points. That is interesting. It could mean higher gold share prices in the near future. There is more to say but no time to say it. More tomorrow...

The Dow was off 184 points. Advance/declines were over 3 to 1 negative. Volume was light. No buyers. We are at an important point, I think. This thing will collapse from here if we don't get some buying soon. The summation index is pointing down again and the zero line is here. This is the moment of truth. I have no positions and don't really have any constructive ideas on the OEX here. I'm on the sidelines. Gold was little changed and the XAU lost 2 points. I'm thinking of getting long here if a good signal develops. Not sure. It could just be a liquidation all the way around. End of the month tomorrow. Not sure what to make of that either. Employment report on Friday. I'm a bit tired today from lack of good sleep. Mentally I'm kind of confused as to what to do here. I suppose I will wait for the indicators to get oversold again and take it from there. I need to go over the blue book tonight and get my head back into the game. I did check all the daily and weekly charts over the weekend and didn't really see any good set-ups. So that is why I'm on the sidelines for now. I guess I'll just stay out for the moment. We'll see what the market has in store tomorrow...

The Dow rose 67 points today. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 positive. Volume was light. We have almost retraced 50% of the decline. We should pullback a bit from here. Will that be a chance to get long? I don't know. I think the decline is over though. Gold was up a couple bucks today. The XAU rose fractionally. No trades there for now but I'm thinking about it again. It is the beginning of a 3 day weekend. I will try and relax. Forget about the markets for a while. There is work to do and I will not put off the essentials. But it's time for a break. It wouldn't hurt, considering how bad my trading has been lately. Not much else to say today. It was a pre-holiday session. And I assume Tuesday will reflect a post-holiday session. Not much else to say...

The post will be a bit early today due to my having to leave for work earlier than usual. We are up 80 points with 15 minutes to go. Volume looks a bit lighter than lately and the advance/declines are 3 to 1 positive. It couldn't stay down forever and I think now we will see higher prices in the future. We reached really oversold levels on some indicators. And the call/put ratio was the lowest I've seen it in years. That said I still think we'll go lower in the September/October timeframe. No trades here for now. Gold was up over $10 today. The XAU is up over 6 points at the moment. The volume isn't what it was. I think a longer base needs to be made here so no trades there for now either. I'll need to check the weekly charts. This too, got oversold but not as much as the Dow. A long weekend lies ahead so I wouldn't expect a lot of action tomorrow. Mentally I'm a bit tired as I did not get a lot of sleep last night. I'm trying to get back into the routine of doing what's necessary to be successful. The work never stops but that's what it takes. You've got to stick with it no matter what. I looking forward to the next trade and will do my best to make it a profitable one. The Dow now up 85 with minutes to go.

The Dow was up 19 points today on heavy volume. Advance/declines were negative. The market is trying to find a bottom here I think. Don't know if it will be successful. The volume lately has been huge. Summation index is still pointing down. It has to turn around soon because we are headed towards the zero line. When the market goes through the zero line it collapses. Let's hope that doesn't happen. Gold got slaughtered today. Down around $35. The dollar was higher. The XAU was off over 5 points. Not bad considering. The volume in the ABX calls was very high. I don't know why but time will tell. I have no ideas what to do there at the moment. I'm on the sidelines in the OEX too. That's what happens when you start making mistakes and losing money. You might just miss out on other opportunities because your confidence is shot. That's where I'm at right now. So mentally, I'm a bit skittish. There is no rush to make more mistakes. That, is not a confident outlook. I'm feeling fine, got enough sleep and all. But I need to get back on track mentally and I don't know how long that will take. I'm going on vacation in July and it is only May. A long weekend coming up so we'll see what the 2 days before that brings...

The Dow lost about 27 points today. It was a turnaround as we were up 75 at one point. Advance/declines were negative again and the volume was good again. The market just can't seem to hold on to anything. The summation index is still pointing down and the trend will follow that. Oversold and staying there and that is never good for the market. Gold was up around $8 today and the XAU rose over 2 points. That index was much higher also and sold off too. There is something going on here but I don't know exactly what. Puts seem to be the way to go at the moment. The tone of the market has changed. I will need to keep this in mind. It is starting to remind me of the year 2000 in the markets. People still believed the trend would be up but it just kept dropping and did so for years. I don't think that's the case here but time will tell. Mentally I'm feeling OK. I have no trades on the horizon and may just stay out in lieu of the recent severe losses. We'll see. I need to get back to reading the blue book and doing what is necessary for success. Discipline is paramount. Tomorrow could get interesting...

The Dow lost 18 points on heavy volume. Advance/declines were 2 to 1 negative. The market is extremely oversold and is staying there. I don't know what exactly to make of it. I have not trades in the works and after the recent miscues, I might just be out until after my vacation in July. I know that is a long time but things just haven't been working out for me lately. Perhaps it's time for a break. I've sustained some heavy losing trades so far this year. It's true that I've had some good winners. But the losses have been hard to bear. I need a better management discipline and I know what to do, it's just a matter of doing it. Gold was unchanged at the end of the day but sold off hard early. The XAU was down around a couple points. Commodities have been dropping lately. The metals had gotten out of control. There will be a time to play gold again but I think it needs a rest or to build a base before I'll be interested again. Mentally I feel fine considering. Not much else to report today. I'm really just trying to relax and see what transpires here. I should be able to do that.

The Dow was up 15 points on very heavy expiration volume. Advance/declines were positive. I got killed with the calls I bought. I sold them exactly at the wrong time and lost over 80%. If I would have held on to them longer during the day I could have perhaps made 30% to 40%. But I would have had to get out quick. It's hard to believe that there was no good bounce today as I had expected. But the market will do what it does. The market is always right. I guess I should have listened to the summation index. There is nobody to blame but myself. I am having my worst month ever perhaps. The last 3 trades have been losers and 2 of them were substantial. I will have to scale back. I need to rebuild my confidence. This is a good time to re-examine just what the hell I'm doing. The short term timeframe trades just don't work out for me. I need to stop doing them. I also need to step back and check out my risk parameters because I have had some big losers. Getting back to the market, it is very oversold. I am getting buy signals short and longer term. However the lack of positive movement when there should be has me worried also. The tone has changed. I'll need to be on the sidelines. Gold was down over $25 today and the XAU has broken long term support. Getting short the gold issues was the play for May and I blew it. I had a chance there and didn't take it. It's frustrating. Sometimes things just don't work out for whatever reason. This is one of those times. I'm going to have to go over everything and sort things out if I'm going to turn this around. I'm vacationing in July and perhaps there will be no trades until after I get back. Mentally I'm feeling the pain of not performing up to expectations. It isn't easy. There are lessons to be learned that should be a part of the plan already. My trading leaves much to be desired. Hopefully some good will come out of this and I can go on to better things. But right now it feels like shit...

The Dow lost another 77 points today on good volume. Advance/declines were negative. I bought some more OEX calls at the close. What can I say? I'm a believer in this trade. There is only a day left though and I'm beginning to understand that these short term things maybe just aren't my style. I still think this thing needs to bounce tomorrow. I paid a bit much for these calls and we dumped at the end so they are already under water. It may have been an extremely stupid thing to do. Tomorrow will tell. The time factor is all important and I should sell these things early if I have half a brain. But perhaps this is one of the rare times where the market just keeps going down and remains oversold. That is a possibility but usually it's very remote. Plus it's options expiration so we'll just have to wait and see. I think it will work but I should have waited for the price that I had put in. After all if it doesn't get filled, there's always another trade. Gold was down $8 today and the XAU lost a couple of points. We are just about at a very important uptrend line in gold on a weekly basis. I don't think it will hold and that could be the end of this fantastic run in gold for a while. We'll have to wait and see what happens. Mentally I'm a little tired from not enough sleep this week. I'm ready for whatever happens tomorrow but even if this trade works, I'm going to have to reassess my trading timeframes and discover what works best for me. I don't think it's these short term deals. Anyway the post tomorrow should be interesting. I'd really be surprised if the market doesn't go up but it could and not enough for me to make any $. Tough game...

The Dow got clobbered today and so did I. Down 214 points on heavy volume. Advance/declines were 5 to 1 negative. I did put in an order for OEX calls and eventually it got filled. But I'm afraid I was a day early and lost about 45% on that trade. I still think that a good sized up day will happen in the next couple of days unless this thing just absolutely collapses. So I will probably try again tomorrow. I was lucky to get out when I did today as I waited for some type of rally which occurred in the last hour or I would have lost a lot more. Still you can't be happy with a loss but I'm kinda glad I took it, got that trade out of the way and will go from here. 2 days left in the option cycle and the thought did cross my mind that perhaps this timeframe is too short for my ideal trading style. We'll see. The XAU was down 5 points as that market is done for now. I think gold was down also but I was focused on the stock market and did not pay close attention to the metal itself. Where do we go from here. I'll look for some follow-thru to the downside tomorrow morning and perhaps take another position on the long side. I'll have to look for a target to enter. At this point I'm not sure but I am sure that an up day is immanent. With 2 days to go if I can time it correctly, the profits will be worth it. If not it will be another loss. Mentally I'm not feeling so bad considering I had a losing trade today. I am satisfied that I got out because as soon as I saw it was filled I knew that I had to get out. That is the time consideration effect when it is so close to expiration. I did not get enough sleep and won't again tomorrow but I feel an opportunity is at hand and I'd like to make some money off of it. Trading isn't easy. I will think things over tonight and develop a gameplan for tomorrow and Friday. We'll see...

The Dow was down 8 points on light volume. Advance/declines were slightly positive. I was having quote problems again today. Did not put in any orders. I feel we will have a good upside day at some point this week. However we need some weakness in order for me to try and play it. The inflation number today did not do much for movement in the market. We'll see what happens tomorrow. If we get some weakness then I might get some calls. If not, I'll have to stay on the sidelines. The XAU was off a point and a half as gold actually rose over 8 bucks. I'm going to have to let things sort themselves out over there in gold. I think we've seen the top for a while but I will want to play that commodity again at some point. I didn't get much sleep last night but I'm not feeling too bad. Mentally I'm OK for now. I'll have to do some reading and more work tonight. I am going to try and not force the issue here. If a viable play comes up in the next 3 days, I'll do it. Otherwise I will have to wait for the June cycle. Sometimes you have to remain patient and it isn't easy to do. But there is no reason to take on a lot of risk here. The play will be to the upside via OEX calls if the opportunity presents itself. Not much more than that. Perhaps if we go up first, I'll short the last day this week. But I really would like to see the weakness first and then get the calls.

The Dow bounced back 47 points today. Volume was decent but the advance/declines were negative. I had an order in for some OEX calls but it didn't get filled. Just missed. Not sure what to do now as the market has already started back up. We are still oversold though and the bounce could last. I'd actually still like to get some calls if we drop tomorrow. But I think I missed it. We'll see. If we continue higher early in the week, I'll look for maybe an end of the week short. The trend is down. The McClellan oscillator is in a spot to bounce though so we will probably work higher here. Who knows? Gold got clobbered today and was down $30 at one point. The XAU was off over 10 points at on juncture also. So I missed that one too. It happens. Should have been bolder there but what can ya do? My trading ideas have been right on as of late but the timing is off. I'll continue to work on it. Mentally, I'm keeping my focus and trying not to get so down on myself. I'm continuing to do the work that's necessary and the good trades will come if I do that. There isn't much more I can do. I got a good nights sleep last night and I almost hit this OEX trade. Maybe tomorrow. No other ideas for right now. I'll probably have to pass on gold here for a while until the indicators get back to normal and that could take a couple of months. Inflation reports the next couple of days and maybe I can trade off of them. Hard to say...

Dow down another 120 points. Volume heavy and the advance/declines were 4 to 1 negative. I hate missing moves. Lost opportunities kill me more than losing money. I don't know why. It was there and I just wasn't paying attention enough. My mind had been in a funk and I don't know why. It pains me. Tough game. Gold was down $10 today and the XAU was off over 6 points. I think this is the top there for a while. The technicals say yes but the volume has not confirmed this. I might try and go out to the June options here. Not sure. Maybe should just stay away from gold for a bit. We'll see. My next move will probably be to catch the bounce from the oversold condition that we are now in. I'm looking to buy some OEX calls on Monday and dump them on an upmove on Tuesday with the producer price index. There is an uptrend line that should be hit on Monday and that is where I might take a stand. Could be dangerous or it could be just the right move. Hard to say when we drop like we have here. Mentally I'm frustrated and pissed off about missing the move. Can't dwell on that though or I'll miss the next one. Hard to do. You really have to stay focused at all costs and that is a lot for anybody. But if you want to be a pro you need to act like a pro. There are no excuses...

The Dow finally got going someplace today and was down 141 points. Advance/declines were over 3 to 1 negative and the volume was heavy. I didn't purchase any OEX puts so I have missed it for now. We should get a sell signal on the summation index today and I will try and get short on any snapback. Gold was up over $10 today but the XAU was down over 2 and a half points. This could be the point that I have been waiting for. Or not. ABX had a one day reversal and the put volume expanded a lot. I will maybe look to buy some puts there. NEM was not down as much and I think this could be the turn. And when this thing falls it will be a stampede. I will probably try it. You've got to take some risks in the game or you won't get anywhere. Whatever I decide, it won't involve a lot of money since I'm not totally sold on anything here, technically. Mentally I'm a little down for not getting some puts yesterday as I suppose I just wasn't paying enough attention. We have some inflation numbers next week and if we drift into those, I will get short before the CPI. That was one of the ideas lately. We'll see. I did not sleep well last night but that has nothing to do with missing opportunities. It's a very difficult game to play. You always have to pay attention and keep at it. I try. But sometimes it's just not good enough. Gotta keep going though, there is still time to make some money on this option cycle...

The Dow rose another 55 points on light volume. Advance/declines were negative. I'd like to get some OEX puts here. Short term we are overbought. I will check the McClellan oscillator tonight. If it gives a sell signal, I'll buy some puts tomorrow. We'll see what happens and as always, I could change my mind. Gold was up $20 today and hit $700. So much for getting short there. The XAU was up 7 points. I really need to stay away from this market for now. That would be the wise thing to do. Until another buy signal appears or it returns to the uptrend line. It is parabolic and out of control. The normal technical indicators won't work in a market like this. I'll have to focus on the stock indices for now. Actually I'm not so sure of myself at the moment. It would probably be best to just step aside here and go to the sidelines for a while. But there also is a window of opportunity until the expiration next Friday. So the battle is within myself as always. Mentally I'm indecisive and that will kill you in this game. I need to get back on track and stay disciplined. I slept good last night and am well rested. I need to continue the readings and get caught up. The Fed is tomorrow and we'll see what that does to the markets...

The Dow ended higher by 6 points on light volume. Advance/declines were about even. I'm looking for a trade here but can't find one just yet. Fed announcement on Wednesday. Can't see much happening before that. Gold was down about $5 and the XAU was off around a point and a half. I'd still like to short this or some gold shares but the volume is still to the plus side. Probably best to step aside here but the RSI signal is a sell. Hard to buck the trend and I just got killed trying to. So I'm kind of in an indecisive mood here and that isn't good for profits. I really don't know what I'm going to do here but I don't want to do anything stupid. There will be money to be made here though, that is for sure. But my focus isn't completely there, the way it should and needs to be. I don't know why. Maybe it's still a hangover from the last big loss. maybe the markets just don't have anything for me here. Whatever it is, I need to get going with some idea for the next 2 weeks that will be profitable. I can't force the issue but I will need to pay attention. Mentally I'm not all there and that can be hazardous to your trading. I'm a bit tired from not enough good sleep. Perhaps that will change tonight. I'll have to look at the charts and see what I can find. Like I said before, would love to short gold here again but am hesitant. Hopefully things will get clear in my mind and I can go forward. Until then I will try and not sabatoge myself and my trading. A dauntless task...

The Dow rose 138 points on light volume today. Advance/declines were 3 to 1 positive. The market keeps chugging higher. I don't know what to say. There is a lot of money around that needs to find a home I suppose. I certainly can't explain it. My gameplan now is to look to get short ahead of the CPI, which doesn't come out for over a week. Gold was up over $680 today. Parabolic and I should not have gotten in front of it. In a bull market you either get long or stay out. Even though the NEM puts would have worked, it still wasn't the proper trading tactics. I sold the ABX puts for an 85% loss. Ouch! Of course I should have had a stoploss order in at 50%. But I'm an idiot. It wasn't as big as the last ABX debacle but it was big none the less. I'm putting it behind me though and looking for the next trade. You've got to stay positive and move on. There is always another trade. I'm not going to whine about it, it was a mistake and I've got to move on. I will. In retrospect, it was all wrong and it cost me. This game isn't for the meek and it isn't for the stupid either. But when you do dumb things it costs you. I was lucky to get out without a total loss. And so it goes. I need to check the charts and look for something over the weekend. Two weeks until expiration and there will be some good trades in there if I can find them. FED meeting on Tuesday and that could be the next market mover. Gotta wait for a signal though. Either that or wait for the CPI. That's the plan for now. Could change over the weekend...

A quick post because I'm running late. The Dow was up 38 points on average volume. Advance/declines were positive. Gold was up $8. The XAU was up around 4 points. ABX had great earnings and was up over $2. My ABX puts got killed. Could be a total loss. NEM didn't move and in retrospect I should have gotten them instead. Then, it would have worked. Gold is parabolic. I should have just stayed out. I am a fool for trying what I did. I do think a huge downdraft will come. Timing it is another question. Do not try to short things in a raging bull market. At least learn that lesson. No more time today, more tomorrow...

The Dow lost 16 points today on average volume. Advance/declines were negative. More of the same. There hasn't been a trend here for quite some time. The only thing that has been constant is the rally during expiration week. Gold was up again about $5. The XAU fell a couple points. Usually that means weakness for gold going forward but in this market anything goes. ABX was only down a few cents and the options haven't really moved. Of course if I would have gotten the NEM puts, I'd be making some money. This has happened before and it pains me. But what can you do. The earnings for ABX have come out and they sound pretty good. The volume was heavy today so maybe it will be a sell the news event. The price of gold is probably a more important factor. As I look at the earnings they look to perhaps be a bit light as I saw reports for 32 cents a share and they are actually 29 cents a share. ABX is up a nickel in the aftermarket. We'll see what happens tomorrow. Mentally I'm feeling OK, got enough sleep last night. I have a dentist appointment tomorrow near the close so the post could be late or not at all. I'm trying to get caught up on my reading but made little progress last night. I'll try to get some in tonight. I've got to stay focused here. Employment report on Friday. No OEX trades just yet. Summation index moving sideways as is the market. That's it for today...

The Dow rose 73 points today on good volume. Advance/declines were positive. I'm thinking it is beginning of the month money flows. No trades here for now. Employment report on Friday. Gold was up over $5 and the XAU rose a point and a half. ABX was up about a quarter on good volume. You just can't keep this sector down as we sold off hard early and came all the way back. I'm afraid that these puts I own just won't work out. Earnings for ABX tomorrow after the bell. The options are showing a slight loss right now. No promises about what's about to happen here. Probably should have just stayed on the sidelines but who knows? Oil up again as money keeps flowing into hard assets. Guess there's no stopping it. Mentally I'm tired and did not sleep well last night. I will get back to my readings today and should be caught up by the end of the week if all goes well. Trading isn't easy as recent events have proven that fact once again...

The post will be quick today due to an appointment. The Dow is about 25 points with 5 minutes to go. There were some bearish comments from the Fed in the last hour which has caused this minor decline. Gold was up another $5 today and the XAU is up about a point. I had an overnight order for ABX puts which got filled around 8am. Not sure about this one as the earnings will be out after the bell on Wednesday and it is holding up much better than the rest of the gold complex. NEM is down for example. We will have to wait and see what happens. There is always a danger when you get short in a rip-roaring bull market like this in gold but there is risk in every trade. More tomorrow...