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...