We were lower from the start today, bounced around and ended the day with a loss of 23 points on the Dow. Advance/declines were negative and the volume was average. Digesting yesterdays gains is how I would describe it. Nothing in the overall market scenario has changed. GE lost 7 cents on lighter volume. 5 days left on the January options there which means the risk is pretty high to attempt a trade. I still may though. Gold was flat on the day but sold off over $10 in the aftermarket. The XAU shed 7 1/2 points. ABX down 2 1/2, GG off 1 1/2 and NEM fell a buck. Volume was average. The gold shares underperformed by a lot. I don't know the reason. The dollar got clobbered again and gold itself did not react in the typical fashion. There is something going on here but again, I don't know exactly what it is. If we get to a gold/XAU ration buy signal, then I'll look at the gold shares for a trade. Otherwise those charts look bearish. Mentally I'm tired again and it has been a long week. I'll be glad when it is over tomorrow and I can get back into a more normal market routine.