The market tried to sell off today but to no avail.  The Dow fell 6 points on average volume.  The advance/declines were slightly negative.  We are going higher in my opinion.  The fact that the small stocks are showing good relative strength here solidifies that view.  I'm still calling for new all time highs before the February option expiration.  The only question that remains is will there be a chance to purchase some SPY calls on a decline in the next couple of days.  GE was up a nickel and the volume was light.  My GE March calls are stuck in the red.  Gold fell about $12 on the futures.  The US dollar was slightly higher.  The XAU was off 1 1/2 and GDX shed 3/8.  Volume remains light here as the flight to safety has abated for now.  This is not a positive seasonal period for gold.  Mentally I'm hanging in there.  I guess I can hope that the retail sales report is met with selling but hope is not a trading strategy.  So we will have to see how the market moves off of that number and go from there.  There is nothing else to do for now.  I do not have any other trading ideas here.  So we'll continue to watch what happens overnight and see what tomorrow brings.