Back to a mixed bag as the Dow rose 44 points on light volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is moving lower. Inflation data was higher than expected again today. Also the Fed chairman began his testimony on capital hill today. Will finish tomorrow. The market just bounced around today. The NASDAQ finished lower. The S&P 500 remains short term overbought. So far this week has been a sideways event with only a couple of days left. I'm still inclined to let this week pass and go from there. GE was off eight cents and the volume was light. Gold found some interest today as the futures gained twenty bucks. Both interest rates and the US dollar were lower. The XAU and GDX had fractional gains on light volume. The gold shares have not kept up with the price of the precious metal lately and that is not bullish. I'm looking at the longer term GDX calls but in no hurry to purchase. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today. I'm not getting any kind of signal here now one way or the other. The VIX hasn't been giving me any market direction clues lately or I haven't been able to figure them out. I'm still a believer in lower stock prices for the August option cycle. Europe and Asia were lower overnight. We'll keep an eye on tonights developments.