The overall market was higher but the Dow posted a loss of 92 points on light volume. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index is still moving down. The NASDAQ outperformed today and that is a plus. The S&P 500 is still below its 50 day moving average but the short term indicators are moving up from oversold levels. As long as we continue higher on light volume, I'm still looking at the SPY September puts. Perhaps later this week if the market cooperates. It is entirely possible that we just move higher from here as well but I'm not as sure on that scenario. We'll see what the reaction is to the inflation data and go from there. Gold was up $13 on the futures. The US dollar finished little changed and interest rates continue to drop. The XAU was up a couple points and GDX added almsot 1/2. Volume was light. I did not get any GDX calls today as the premium on the option that I was considering did not drop to the price that I wanted. GDX remains short term oversold on some of the indicators and is right at its 50 day moving average. It may have been a mistake on my part in not getting the calls today but we'll see how it plays out going forward. I think that I'm more sold on the SPY put idea for this option cycle but we'll see. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and that fits with the overall market rise. The short term indicators are now mid-range and give the appearance that they could go either way. I'm pretty sure we will see some kind of movement tomorrow morning after the inflation report. Which way is always the question. The data is forecast to be mild. There is also a presidential debate tonight but I don't know how much that will affect the markets. Asia was generally higher and Europe lower overnight. We'll keep an eye on tonights developments.