A day of indecision for the market as the Dow gained 131 points on average volume. The advance/declines were slightly negative. the summation index is moving lower. A mixed bag today as the NASDAQ was down. The market was up and down during the session as neither the bulls or the bears could take hold. The S&P 500 continues to hold its 50 day moving average and that is a plus. Option expiration week is on tap and that usually has a bullish bias. But we really don't know for sure which way it's going to go. Even if we rally on Monday there's a chance that a bearish flag is being formed before we take out the recent lows. That's just a guess on my part as it hasn't happened yet but the NASDAQ is leading the way and it remains negative. GE was off a nickel on average volume. The gold futures were off $5. The US dollar finished little changed. The XAU fell two points, while GDX lost 3/8. Volume was light. With just a week to go I'm still considering the GDX September calls but the risk would be pretty high. Especially if the market decides to continue its fall. I'm also looking out to the October calls here. I suppose that I'll look things over this weekend and take it from there. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The VIX was down today even though prices didn't finish with decent gains. Getting close now to the 50 day moving average. The short term indicators have rolled over, are moving down but aren't yet oversold. The weekly chart here appears bullish but that could change. Expiration week complicates things but there should be a decent trade out there if I can find it. The option premiums do remain pretty high though. This week will suck out lots of built in time premium as well. So the timing of any trade will have to be spot on because time will not be on your side. I'll go over all the charts this weekend as usual. Hopefully I'll come up with something. Europe and Asia were mixed to finish the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.