A mixed bag today as the Dow managed a gain of 57 points on light volume. The advance/declines were shy of 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is still tracking sideways. Both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 were lower today, with the NASDAQ leading the way by far. This is not a good sign for the bulls. The short term indicators for both of these indexes have turned lower. On a very short term basis we are oversold so a bounce within the next couple of sessions isn't out of the question. But the lack of volume is a concern as players remain on the sidelines ahead of next weeks inflation data. It's as if the summer doldrums arrived late this year. Gold finished flat on the session. The US dollar was slightly higher and interest rates slightly lower today. Both the XAU and GDX had fractional losses on light volume. The short term indicators for GDX are still moving lower but are not yet oversold. MY open order for the GDX October calls remains out there. Might have to adjust it again or perhaps move to a different strike price. I'm still a fan of this idea for now. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was flat on the session and remains short term oversold. The daily candlestick chart here appears poised to head lower, which would be a plus for those long stocks. The VIX remains below its 50 day moving average and can remain oversold for some time. However we'll have to wait and see what it has in store for us this time around. Asia was generally lower and Europe mixed overnight. We'll close out the short and slow trading week tomorrow.