We certainly got a bounce today as the Dow climbed 511 points on average volume. The advance/declines were 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is still moving lower. The Dow led the way higher. A big move up out of nowhere usually occurs in bear markets but we haven't moved the required 20% lower yet. So it's possible that the decline has ended but we won't know right away. Todays advance has turned the short term indicators for the S&P 500 up but we're still oversold there. As the week goes on we'll see if this is a one day wonder or the start of something sustainable. We've got the Fed and the jobs report due this week so there will be plenty of excuses for price movement. End of the month tomorrow as well. We still like the SPY November calls if we can get the timing right. Gold was up $6 on the futures. The US dollar was lower and interest rates ticked up. The XAU shed 1 1/3, while GDX lost almost 1/2. Volume was average. Gold up and the gold shares down is a negative. The Middle East situation over the weekend didn't turn out as bad as predicted so far and that was an excuse to get out of the gold shares which have had a nice run. However geo-political concerns remain a wildcard and we'll hang on to our GDX November calls for now. They are still showing a small profit despite todays loss. The short term technical indicators for GDX are mid-range. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and that fits an up market. The short term indicators are trying to roll over and it closed below the 20 level. If the VIX can make it down through the up trend line that lies at the 19 level we'll become more convinced that the worst is over for stocks. Hasn't happened yet but we get the feeling that it will. But we won't get ahead of ourselves because the market will eventually let us know. Europe and Asia were up with the exception of Japan. We'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.