It was a relatively quiet expiration as the Dow gained 20 points. Volume was pretty good and the advance/declines were positive. Perhaps this is the beginning of the Santa Claus rally. The overall market was stronger than the Dow. Still stuck in the trading range though. I don't really expect a breakout one way or the other until next year. Gold was up another $5 and the XAU rose 2 1/2. ABX and GG were up around a buck and NEM gained over 1/2. Volume was good. We are at the area where the gold shares should hold up and rally. I will be looking at the gold share calls next week on any weakness. The options didn't move much today even with 1 point moves in ABX and GG. There is a lot of time premium in the prices. I'm leaving in my open order for ABX calls. If we don't hold up here than that trade will be off. The dollar was strong early and then fell back. We reached the 78 level which was the target in my opinion. Checking the dollar chart, there is a chance we could go to 80. However I am sticking with the plan for the gold shares at these levels for now. Mentally I'm a bit tired, did not sleep well. A holiday week coming up and I expect that things will slow down. It makes for tough trading. However I think we are at a point where perhaps taking a risk in the gold share calls is warranted. I'll check the charts over the weekend. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break. There is work to do before Monday though.