Slightly lower to begin a shortened trading week as the Dow fell 173 points on average volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 negative. The summation index continues lower. Once again the NASDAQ led the way down but it wasn't a huge decline. Short term oversold and staying that way for the major averages. I'm still looking for some kind of decent bounce in stocks this week. Hopefully that would set us up for the SPY September puts. But the market rarely cooperates with the best laid plans. Plenty of bears out there now so a move in the other direction would not be a surprise. Running out of time in the September option cycle. Gold dropped $11 on the futures. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU fell a point and GDX lost 1/3. Volume was average. My open order for the GDX October calls remains out there. We'll need to see more of a decline in the gold shares for this order to be filled. Not sure it's the best idea but the gold shares are blown out to the downside on all the time frames. The indicators also remain oversold as they have been for a while. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher today and that fits with a down market. Short term overbought here and staying that way. That condition won't last forever but we certainly don't know when it will end. It lends to the possibility of more downside for stocks if it persists. A positive is that the S&P 500 has held the 3900 level so far. We remain at a critical juncture. Europe was up and Asia mixed in the overnight trade. We'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.