Waiting on the employment data as the Dow dropped 189 points on light volume. The advance/declines were around 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is trying to move lower now. The Dow led the way down and that isn't the most bearish scenario. Some of our work says that at least some kind of bounce is due now. Whether or not it happens tomorrow remains to be seen. We also have the backdrop of the constant headlines out of the Middle East as the world tries to contemplate the possiblity of all out war. We stick with the technicals as the short term indicators for the S&P 500 have rolled over with plenty of room to move lower. That doesn't mean that we can't go higher tomorrow but any upside could be short lived. Or the market continues to drop and in that case we will have missed the SPY October puts idea. My open order for the puts is still out there but nowhere near to be getting filled. Probably will have to adjust it going forward. Gold rose $8 on the futures. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates again. The gold shares followed the overall market lower with the XAU off 2 3/4 and GDX shedding 3/4. Volume was on the light side. The short term indicators for GDX are not yet oversold. Perhaps there will be a chance at the GDX calls in the October option cycle but it would be strictly a short term trade. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up today and closed above the 20 level. Getting to short term overbought on the indicators here. This is why it could be tough to try the puts here because the VIX usually doesn't stay overbought for long. This also why tomorrows price action is important. If the market falls then trying the SPY October puts might be out of the question. If the market rises then trying the puts will make more sense as there will be some breathing room to go higher on the VIX next week. As always there are many moving parts to the option trades that must be taken into consideration. Europe was lower and Asia mixed in last nights trade. We'll see what the market reaction is to the jobs report tomorrow.