A downer for a change to begin the trading week as the Dow fell 51 points on light volume.  The advance/declines were 2 to 1 negative.  The summation index is moving lower.  We'll take our cues from that.  The short term technical indicators for the major averages have rolled over.  I'm not sure if we'll get a chance for the SPY March puts as it already appears to be too late.  The only hope for that trade is a light volume run up in the next couple of sessions.  If that doesn't happen, we'll look for the SPY March calls ahead of the Fed next week.  We could just be in a sideways consolidation for a while.  GE was off 1/8 and the volume was light.  No trades in mind here for now.  Gold was little changed on the futures as the US dollar was a bit higher.  The gold shares fell though.  The XAU shed 2 1/4, while GDX dropped 1/2.  Volume was a little less than normal.  No love for the gold shares here.  Mentally I'm feeling OK.  Only nine days to go in the March option cycle.  The timing of the next trade will have to be right as there will be no room for error.  However with no risk comes no reward.  I do anticipate doing something before the March option cycle ends.  For now I'm simply waiting for a near term set up.  If we continue lower, I'll try the SPY calls.  If we go higher, I'll look for the puts as long as the summation index is heading down.  So we'll see.  Plus we have the jobs report on Friday to deal with.  So it is time to pay attention and we'll see how it goes.  Asia was mixed and Europe lower overnight.  We'll keep an eye on this evenings trade.