Back to the downside today as the major averages got clobbered. The Dow dropped 1164 points on good volume. The advance/declines were 5 to 1 negative. The summation index is tracking sideways after trying to turn back up. The NASDAQ led the way lower. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 rolled back over. The S&P did not even make it back to the first down trend line on the daily chart. So much for the positive option expiration week bias. Not sure where we go from here in the short term but the market is coming to grips with what inflation will do to company earnings if it persists. The S&P is still pretty far from both its 50 and 200 day moving averages. This cannot last indefinately. Gold fell five bucks on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates were lower on a probable flight to safety. The XAU lost over 3 3/4, while GDX shed about 3/4. Volume remains light here. If GDX makes it down to the 29 level I'll probably try the June calls there. Still short term oversold for GDX and getting there on a medium term basis. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX zoomed higher as it bounced off of its 50 day moving average. The short term indicators turned around as well. Not sure what to expect next here with the VIX. The Dow and the TRAN both closed at a new low for the decline that began back in January. Other indices came close. I don't think that we'll see another day like today for tomorrows market action but who knows? As always, the market goes where it wants. Asia was generally higher and Europe down in last nights trade. We'll see what tomorrow brings.