Bouncing around today and perhaps trying to put in a short term bottom? The Dow gained 222 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is heading lower. The jobs report was a bit weaker than expected but it did not seem to matter to the market. We hit the lows for the session about halfway through and rallied back the rest of the day. The NASDAQ led the way back and that's a plus. The S&P 500 is still short term oversold and staying there. It did manage to hold at the 200 day moving average again and that's why I think a bounce here is due. Ideally if it could make it back to the short term down trend line I'd like to try the SPY puts there. Markets rarely cooperate. That line now comes in at 5875. It was a tough week to be long stocks. Gold was off $8 on the futures. The US dollar finished a little lower and interest rates were a bit higher. The XAU was up about a point and GDX added 1/4. Volume was light. I did place an order for the GDX March calls overnight but it wasn't filled and I canceled it. The short term indicators for GDX are still heading higher with room to go before reaching overbought. I'll reconsider this idea over the weekend. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and remains short term overbought. Still above the 20 level and pretty far from its 50 day moving average. Not sure what happens next with this indicator. Two weeks to go in the March option cycle and I anticipate making some kind of trade within that timespan. Volatility is the key here and the trading has to be nimble for success. We'll see if I'm up to the challenge. I'll be going over the charts this weekend as usual. Asia and Europe were lower on the last trading day of the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

The selling continues as the Dow fell 427 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is moving down. The NASDAQ continues to lead the way lower and that remains a negative for stocks. The S&P 500 lost over 100 points again as it trys to hang on at the 200 day moving average. The short term indicators here are still oversold. Not sure what's next with the employment numbers due tomorrow. Still hoping that the S&P can make it back to the down trend line that now comes in at 5900 so that we can try the SPY March puts. The market is not cooperating though and it appears that the 5600 target will be reached first. Getting pretty far from the 50 day moving average on the S&P. Gold was off $8 on the futures. The US dollar was just a bit lower and interest rates finished mixed. The XAU fell 1 2/3, while GDX shed around 1/3. Volume was light. GDX remains in an uptrend and I might place an order in for the March calls overnight. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up and is well above the 20 level which means increased volatility. We are certainly seeing that. The short term indicators remain overbought as they have been for about a couple of weeks. This is a rare occurrence for the VIX lately as it usually stays extended on the oversold side. But this can happen in stock market declines which is where we find ourselves. The NASDAQ is also pretty far from its 50 day moving average and already below its 200 day moving average. It has been almost a straight line down here and some kind of snapback is overdue. The long term uptrend line here comes in at 17400. If for some reason that level didn't hold we would be in bigger trouble than we are now for the bulls. Asia and Europe were higher overnight with the exception of the FTSE. We'll see how the market reacts to the jobs numbers tomorrow.

Some upside for a change as the Dow gained 485 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were 2 to 1 positive. The summation index continues lower. The NASDAQ led the way and that's a plus. The short term indicators for the S$P 500 remain oversold. The game plan for now is to see if the S&P can make it back to the down trend line at around 5925. That would be the spot to try the SPY March puts if we still want to go that way. The 200 day moving average on the S&P has held the decline so far. There is also the possibility that the decline has ended because a lot of the indicators are blown out to the downside. The trading is never easy. We'll see what things look like if and when we make it back to short term down trend line. Gold was up $11 on the futures. The US dollar had a huge drop and interest rates were higher. The gold shares outperformed the metal as the XAU jumped 6 2/3, while GDX was up 1 3/8. Volume was slightly below average. The short term indicators for GDX are moving higher. Another missed trade here as I placed the orders for the GDX March calls recently but none were filled. My lack of making the proper adjustments was the main factor. Mentally I'm feeling frustrated as markets are moving and we are not taking advantage of it. The ideas have been relevant but the lack of correct trading tactics has kept us from meeting trading objectives. The VIX was lower today and the short term indicators have turned down. This implies that we should see higher stock prices but in this market, who knows? The daily candlestick chart also appears to have put in a short term top at the least. Still above the 20 level though. We'll see. Jobs data on Friday is looming. Asia and Europe were higher overnight. I'll keep an eye on the overnight headlines.

It was almost a one day upside reversal as the market sold off hard early on, moved higher for much of the rest of the session to get back into positive territory only to collapse again in the final hour. The Dow lost 708 points on very heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 3 to 1 negative. The summation index is moving lower. The NASDAQ held up the best today and that should be a positive going forward. But we are on shaky ground. The S&P 500 made it down to its 200 day moving average and bounced from that level. It is important for it to hold on here but our measuring objective from the double top is still 5600. The short term indicators for the S&P remain oversold. There is a down trend line in place now on the daily chart. If we could somehow make it back to that line it would give us a chance for the SPY March puts. But it looks like that ship has sailed and I missed it. High option premiums have kept me on the sidelines. Gold was up $27 on the futures. The US dollar was lower and interest rates finished mixed. The XAU gained 1 1/4 and GDX was up 5/8. Volume was lighter than average. I did place an overnight order for the GDX March calls but it wasn't filled and I canceled it. The short term indicators for GDX have turned back up and it looks like I've missed this trade as well. Still plenty of time in the March option cycle but you've got to nimble in fast markets which is where we find ourselves. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX finished higher but off from the highest levels on the day. The short term indicators remain overbought which isn't how the VIX usually operates. It is another indicator pointing out the trading environment that we're in. Not sure what to expect tomorrow. Perhaps I'll be able to take some kind of position ahead of Fridays employment report. Europe and Asia were lower too as it's a worldwide wave of selling at the moment. We'll keep an eye on the overnight developments.

Volatility with a vengeance today as the Dow fell 649 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is trending lower again. The NASDAQ continues to lead the way down and that's a negative. The S&P 500 opened higher and closed lower for a one day negative reversal. It dropped over 100 points. The short term indicators are oversold and staying there. The premiums on the SPY March puts were very high and I did not purchase any. It is probably too late for that idea now as the bounce only lasted for a day. I'm still looking for 5600 as a downside target on the S&P. Gold was up fifty bucks on the futures. The US dollar was lower and interest rates continue to drop. The gold shares started out positive but then followed the overall market lower. The XAU dipped 7/8 and GDX finished flat. Volume was light. GDX remains short term oversold but not completely. I will probably put in an order tonight for the GDX March calls again. This may be the way to try something in the March option cycle where the option premiums aren't overpriced because of the volatility in the overall market. But we'll see. It's fluid situation as usual. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher today and closed above the 20 level. Still short term overbought with a little room left to go higher. The VIX rarely stay overbought for long. That tells you that we are not in the usual market conditions and that the decline has legs. If the summation index starts to really turn down, the zero line will be upon us. If that happens the drop will be greater than the 5600 level that I'm looking at. I'm not sure what's next but we will be paying attention. Europe was up and Asia genrally higher to begin the trading week. We'll see how things go tomorrow.