A mixed bag today as the Dow fell 96 points on light volume. The advance/declines were about even. The summation index is beginning to move sideways. Both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 had gains on the day. The S&P remains short term overbought. It feels like the market is just hanging around waiting for the next catalyst for movement. Perhaps Fridays inflation numbers will do the trick. The S&P has broken out to new highs with no more overhead resistance. It appears that the path will be up from here. Gold was up $7 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates ticked up. The gold shares found buyers as the XAU rose 2 1/2, while GDX gained almost 2/3. Volume was light. My open order for the GDX February calls wasn't filled yesterday and now the options have moved higher. I'm leaving the order out there for now but it's possible that this is a trade that won't happen for me if GDX continues higher from here. The 27.5 support level has held for now and that's a plus. The short term indicators for GDX have turned up with plenty of room to go. I do not think that I'm going to chase it here though. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and closed below its 50 day moving average. Getting short term oversold but not completely there yet. The VIX continues to support the arguement for higher stock prices as does the current leadership of the NASDAQ. Plenty of time left in the February option cycle so hopefully we'll see a solid trading signal soon. Remaining patient for now. Europe was slightly lower and Asia mixed once again. We'll see how things go tomorrow.