A mixed bag to begin the week as the Dow fell 34 points on light volume.  The advance/declines were slightly negative.  The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 had slight gains.  The summation index continues lower.  It was the kind of day that frustrates both the bulls and the bears as we are basically going nowhere.  Less than two weeks to go in the May option cycle.  I'd still like to try the SPY May puts but will have to see some kind of attempt to make it back to 2075 on the SPX.  We've yet to see a short covering rally.  My ideal scenario would be strength into sometime on Wednesday.  But the ideal scenarios rarely come to pass.  GE lost 1/4 and the volume was light.  Gold got clobbered today as the precious metal futures lost almost $30.  The dollar was higher but not enough to cause that much damage in gold.  The XAU fell 6 points, while GDX shed 1 2/3.  Volume was average.  This area is in need of a rest.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  Not much economic data out this week until retail sales along with producer price inflation on Friday.  I think that we are overdue for some kind of bounce for stocks but there haven't been any buyers.  The drift is not friendly to taking outright options positions.  The short term technical indicators for the major averages remain in the oversold zone.  Normally that would bring some kind of attempt at some upside but everything has remained weak.  Running out of time in May for an options trade but I'm still looking.  Each passing day increases the risk though.  Foreign markets were mixed overnight and are not providing any direction as well.  Perhaps the sidelines are the best choice at the moment.  We'll keep an eye on what happens tonight.