The Dow is still being held hostage by the US debt situation as it fell another 96 points today. The advance/declines were 2 to 1 negative and the volume was good. Very oversold now and a decent bounce will happen at some point next week. I still think the bounce can be shorted. The summation index is heading lower. It is now just a matter of getting done with the debt deal and going from there. Probably want to have some OEX puts before next Fridays employment report. We'll see. GE was down 1/3 on good volume. We are right at the lower Bollinger band on the weekly charts. It either holds or we go into a waterfall effect. Gold continues to attract money, up $15 on the futures. The US dollar was weaker. However the XAU fell 4 1/3. ABX down about 2/3, GG lost 1 1/4 and NEM dropped 2 1/8. Volume was good. The Gold/XAU ration is solidly on a buy but that hasn't meant anything lately. Perhaps the September gold share calls will be the place to be. I'd wait for a base to build here though. Gold could sell off once the debt problem subsides. Mentally I'm feeling tired. I'm also tired of this debt debacle. It will get solved but it has been strung out to no end. If I had the confidence, I'd have bought some OEX August calls today. It wasn't a good week for me with the losing GG trade. There's still 3 weeks in the August option cycle though. However the increased volatility has really blown out the option premiums. The idea for now is to wait for the bounce and then get some OEX puts. I do not think we will be simply moving back straight up. I could be wrong and often am. Right now it's the last Friday in July and time for a break.