A hang around day as the Dow was up 6 points on good volume. Advance/declines were almost 2 to 1 negative. Not a good sign for the bulls. We were both higher and lower on the day and finished right in the middle as the market decides what to do here. Summation index continuing lower and I'd like to try the OEX puts if anything. But I'll need to see some strength in the form of another short covering rally. Fed beige book tomorrow and we should move off of that. I'll remain on the sidelines for now but I do see myself engaged in some type of trade before expiration. Gold got clobbered on the higher dollar today, losing over $25. The XAU got creamed, losing over 8 points. ABX down 3, GG down 2 3/4, NEM down 2 1/4. Volume was heavy. So much for my idea of getting ABX calls. Sometimes your ideas are just flat out wrong, which was the case here. I am fortunate that none of my buy orders were filled in the past few days. The dollar reversed last weeks losses and is heading higher at the moment. Gold will not be going back up in that kind of environment. I will wait for a buy signal. GE was up 1/4 on average volume. Not much to make of what is going on there. Mentally I'm tired, did not sleep well. It seems as though my view of the markets here is not consistent with what is actually happening. The trend is down but I haven't made any money from it. There is still a chance before expiration but it won't be easy. Perhaps I'm still uneasy from the last losing trade but that was quite some time ago now. I'm going to continue keeping an eye on things and go from there. I'll do my best to try and not force things in the near term. I still think we are heading lower before expiration.