Inflation data came in where expected but the market still sold off as the Dow fell 92 points on average volume. The advance/declines were slightly negative. The summation index remains in a sideways channel. The overall market was much weaker than the Dow, with the NASDAQ leading the way lower. That is not a positive. We opened with a gap down and stayed lower thoughout the session. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 have turned lower. The Bollinger bands here are starting to tighten. My open order for the SPY September puts did not come close to being filled and I'm leaving it out there. Might have to adjust it again next week. Gold was up $42 on the futures to close at a new all time high. The US dollar finished about unchanged and interest rates closed mixed. The XAU gained 6 7/8 and GDX was up 1 7/8. Volume was about average. GDX is still short term overbought and far from its 50 day moving average. Not sure how much longer that can go on. I still think the gold shares are ovedue for a rest but the market knows more than I do. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher today which fits a down market. The short term indicators here have again turned up. Not sure what's next for the VIX. We made it through the week and now there's an extra day off for Labor day. All the players should be at their desks on Tuesday. I'm still in favor of some SPY puts although it could already be too late. We'll see. Plenty of charts to check over the weekend. Not sure if todays selling was the start of something sustained to the downside or just an end of the month issue. Perhaps inflation data related. Plenty to ponder in the next few days. Asia was mixed again and Europe lower to close out the week. Its Friday afternoon and time for a rest.

The drift higher continues as the Dow gained 71 points on average volume. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index is trying to move higher but continues to track sideways. The earnings report from NVDA was about in line with estimates but it guided lower going forward. Markets shrugged it off. This is a market that wants to go higher. The Dow and S&P 500 closed at new all time highs. The S&P simply continues to remain short term overbought. Will the inflation data tomorrow bring some selling? We'll see. I adjusted my open order for the SPY September puts to a closer to the money strike price. I still like this idea but the timing will have to be spot on. Now I'm looking at perhaps the beginning of next week to put this trade on but we'll see what happens tomorrow. Gold was up $30 on the futures. The US dollar was lower and interest rates generally finished little changed. The XAU was off over a point and GDX lost 1/4. Volume remains light here. The gold shares have started to underperform the metal itself lately and that is not a positive. GDX remains short term overbought. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today. It remains short term oversold but not completely. If and when it gets there we will take a harder look at the SPY puts. For now I'd probably just take letting tomorrow go by and head to next week after a long weekend. But it will be up to the market activity on the inflation news. Asia and Europe were mixed overnight. We'll close out the trading week tomorrow.

Moving higher on a Wednesday as the Dow gained 147 points on average volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is trying to move higher but does remain in a sideways channel. The McClellan oscillator gave a signal last night for a big move within the next two days. We'll see if that pans out tomorrow. Waiting for NVDA earnings after the bell that the market seems to be fixated on. The Dow led the way higher. Technical conditions here have not changed. The S&P 500 remains short term overbought. My SPY September put order remains out there. Gold added $16 on the futures. The US dollar finished unchanged and interest rates were a bit lower. The XAU and GDX had fractional losses on very light volume. GDX is still short term overbought and overdue for a rest in my opinion. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was a bit higher today which doesn't fit with an up market. That sometimes leads to selling the next day. The short term indicators there are trying to turn back up and it remains short term oversold. Not sure what to expect next on the VIX. Nothing to do now except wait to see how it goes in the next couple of sessions before a long weekend. We are not going to try and force a trade ahead of the inflation data as I made that mistake a couple of weeks ago. Asia and Europe were generally lower in last nights trade. I'll keep an eye on the overnight developments.

Just another summer trading day as the Dow gained 135 points on good volume. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index is tracking sideways. The market drifted sideways for much of the day and then rose in the final couple of hours. The S&P continues to be short term overbought. I did place an open order for the SPY September puts and I'm leaving it out there. It will take some more gains to get filled. If the market gets into rally mode and powers on up from here, I'll cancel the order. Gold was up twenty bucks on the futures. The US dollar was lower along with most interest rates. The XAU added 4 2/3, while GDX climbed another 1 1/4. Volume was light. There seems to be no sellers in the gold shares. GDX remains short term overbought and is even further away from its 50 day moving average. That doesn't mean that GDX can't go higher but my guess would be that it is getting close to a near term top. Perhaps the lighter volume is simply a function of it being the last week of August. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was a bit lower today. Remaining short term oversold on its indicators. Not sure what's next for the VIX but the low levels are generally bullish for stocks. Still waiting on NVDA earnings and Fridays inflation data ahead of a long weekend in the US. Europe and Asia were lower overnight. I'll keep an eye on the evenings news events.

Another sideways summer Monday session though the Dow did drop 349 points on light volume. The advance/declines were 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is drifting higher. The Dow led the way lower as both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 posted small losses. We did not see any upside follow through the Fridays big gains and that is somewhat of a concern. Waiting on NVDA earnings after the bell on Wednesday and the inflation report on Friday. But there is plenty of time before that. I'm still in favor of some SPY September puts at some point. It looks like the short term indicators for the S&P are starting to roll over. We could have a very thin trading market this week as some traders take off for the last unofficial week of summer ahead of Labor day. I'll try and remain patient for now. Gold was off $8 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates creeped up as well. The XAU and GDX had minor fractional rises on extremely light volume. GDX continues to be short term overbought. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up today which fits a downside market. Still short term oversold here but not completely so. Not sure what's next for this indicator. Would like to wait for it to get completely oversold before trying the SPY puts but markets rarely cooperate. Asia up and Europe mostly down to start the week. We'll see how things go tomorrow.

We certainly got more than just a bounce today as the Dow soared 846 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were 9 to 1 positive. The summation index has turned around and is heading higher. The Dow and NASDAQ led the way with the Dow closing at a record high to finally catch up with both the NASDAQ and S&P 500. The Fed chairman spoke and stocks like what they heard. The short term indicators on the S&P have turned back up. Expect new highs for the S&P next week with no overhead resistance. The move lower from the negative RSI divergence is over. Not sure if we'll see another divergence soon. It will depend on the price action next week. Gold added $35 on the futures. The US dollar got pounded lower and interest rates dropped. The XAU was up 4 1/4, while GDX rose another 7/8. Volume was about average. GDX remains short term overbought and is getting pretty far from its 50 day moving average. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX sank today to its lowest level in months. The short term indicators have rolled back to oversold territory. My guess is that the rally continues with the VIX at these low levels. The market was waiting on the Fed and now that is out of the way. Not a lot of econmoic data next week but we will get inflation data on Friday. It will also be the last unofficial week of summer with Labor day weekend on tap. Not sure now what the next trade will be. I'll check the charts over the weekend to try and come up with something. Europe and Asia were higher with the exception of India. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

The selling continued today but nothing drastic as the Dow fell 152 points on light volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is beginning to trend lower. The selling was pretty even across the board. Waiting to hear what the Fed chairman has to say tomorrow. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are now mid-range and moving lower. That said, we are receiving a short term buy signal from one of our indicators. So I would not be surprised if we see some kind of bounce tomorrow regardless of the Fed. Gold was off five bucks on the futures. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU was up 4 3/4 and GDX rose 7/8. Volume was lighter than average. The gold shares went back to outperforming the metal itself which is what has been the case for most of this month. The gold shares are just breaking out to the upside from their two week consolidation. GDX remains short term overbought as it has been since early this month. Volume has been light though. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher today and I did not expect that. Still closed below the 50 day moving average but the short term indicators are now moving up. It now looks like anything could happen with this indicator tomorrow. I'm hoping that stocks hold up here as I do believe that getting the SPY September puts will be a good idea at some point in this option cycle. But if we drop tomorrow it may be that it's too late. Ideally we'd see a bounce higher tomorrow so traders get complacent over the weekend. That would maybe set us up for a put purchase sometime next week. We'll see. Europe and Asia were mixed overnight. We'll see where things go tomorrow.

More overall selling today but the Dow once again managed a gain. The most watched index rose 16 points on average volume. The advance/declines were slightly negative. The summation index continues to move sideways. Both the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 posted losses with the NASDAQ leading the way lower. This is not a positive development. Stocks did come up off of the lows today and that may lead to some kind of try to rally from here. The short term indicators for the S&P are still heading down but might be trying to turn around. I would think that tomorrow will be a wait and see session before the Fed chairmans speech on Friday. I'm all for letting this week go by before attempting the next trade. Gold was up $33 on the futures. The US dollar finished unchanged while interest rates were a touch lower. The XAU was up five points and GDX gained 1 2/3. Volume was light once again. GDX is still in a sideways range that now has lasted two weeks. The short term indicators here have turned back up but they are not completely overbought yet. No GDX trades for me here. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up slightly today and did come back from touching its 50 day moving average. Most of the short term indicators here are still oversold. The daily candlestick chart for the VIX looks like it wants to head lower. That would imply a dovish Fed on Friday. We'll see. Still a summertime market here getting to late August. Asia was higher with the exception of Japan and Europe was lower with the exception of the FTSE. We'll see if there are any breaking news developments overnight.

Sellers had the upper hand today but the Dow managed a gain of 10 points on average volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index continues sideways. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 posted losses on the day with the NASDAQ off 1.5%. The short term indicators for the S&P are rolling over but are still on the overbought side. It appears that the negative RSI divergence for the S&P on the daily chart is valid but we don't know how long the decline from here will last. I'm not sure if this is the beginning of a sustained move lower but it could be. The SPY September options are pricey though with plenty of time left in them. We've got the Fed chairman giving a speech on Friday and that may have an impact on things. Gold was down $18 on the futures. The US dollar was a bit higher and interest rates a bit lower. The XAU fell six points and GDX lost 1 1/2. Volume remains light for the gold shares. The gold stocks clearly underperformed the precious metal today and we haven't seen that happen in a while. The short term indicators on GDX are rolling over. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher today which fits with an overall down market. Still short term oversold here. If the VIX starts to climb here it will be trouble for stocks. I'm not sure what is about to happen but the weak NASDAQ is not a good sign. The bulls will hope today was a one day affair. I'm hoping things hold up for a while to make the September puts cheaper but hope is not a trading strategy. Europe was higher and Asia lower with the exception of India. We'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.

Today was your typical summer Monday going nowhere type of session. The Dow fell 34 points on average volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is tracking sideways. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 finished basically unchanged. The S&P remains short term overbought. It is a light week for economic data. Some major retailers will be reporting earnings but that's about it. I will probably try and let this week pass before trying the next trade. Gold was off $4 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates ticked up. The XAU and GDX had very slight fractional losses on extremely light volume. Volume has dried up for the gold shares lately. GDX remains in a sideways channel and short term overbought. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was a touch lower today and remains short term oversold. Nothing new to report here. Perhaps we have finally hit the summer doldrums. Asia was generally higher and Europe lower to start the week. We'll see if things pick up tomorrow.

We had a one day downside reversal on many of the stock indices but the Dow managed a gain of 35 points on good volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is moving sideways. The overall market was weaker than the Dow with both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 posting losses. Retail sales came in where expected. The S&P 500 remains short term overbought. If it heads lower from here the negative RSI divergence on the daily chart will be valid. I am already looking at the SPY September puts but the premiums are high. Gold finished flat on the session. The US dollar was higher and interest rates ticked up. The XAU was up two points and GDX added 1/2. Volume remains light. GDX is still short term overbought and has been trending sideways for a week. No trades planned there for now. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up today and that fits with an overall down market. Still short term oversold here. The Dow hit a new intra-day high today but did not close at a record. Perhaps next week. I'll be checking the charts as usual over the weekend. The extra week in the September option cycle makes it tough to find a reasonably priced option at the moment. Asia was generally higher and Europe mixed to close out the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

The inflation data came in hotter than expected but after a small gap lower at the open the market basically went sideways. The Dow was off 11 points on good volume. The advance/declines were around 3 to 1 negative. The summation index is now starting to track sideways. Bad news was not met with extended selling as liquidity doesn't seem to be a problem for this market. Perhaps it is the positive option expiration bias but we don't know for sure. The negative breadth does show some underlying weakness. But we can't argue with price. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 both ended the day about unchanged. We'll get retail sales tomorrow on expiration Friday. The technical configuration for the S&P remains the same. Short term overbought with a possible negative RSI divergence. Gold was down $22 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and so were interest rates. The XAU fell two points and GDX shed 1/3. Volume is still pretty light here. GDX remains in short term overbought territory. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was a bit higher today but still at a low overall level. The short term indicators are oversold. Not sure what to expect next here on the VIX but being this low it's expected for the rally in stocks to continue. We will be rolling into the September option cycle that will have an extra week in it. Premiums will be high. Asia was lower except for India, while Europe was higher overnight. We'll see how expiration Friday goes tomorrow.

Continuing higher as the Dow climbed 463 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were shy of 4 to 1 positive. The summation index has turned back up. The Dow was the leader today and is back to approaching new all time highs. The NASDAQ and S&P 500 set new records today. The S&P 500 is short term overbought on some of its indicators. There is a potential negative RSI divergence on its daily chart though. Only two days to go in the August option cycle. I'll try my best not to do anything stupid here as I've already booked a loss this week. Gold added ten bucks on the futures. The US dollar was lower along with interest rates. The XAU and GDX had slight fractional losses on very light volume. The volume for the gold shares has dried up lately. Not sure what's going on with that. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The VIX is still heading lower. It is short term oversold. As long as it continues to be at these low levels the rally will go on. PPI data due out tomorrow. Asia and Europe were higher overnight as money finds a home in stocks around the world. We'll keep an eye on the overnight developments.

Inflation data came in where expected and the markets took off to the upside as the Dow gained 483 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were 4 to 1 positive. The summation index is trying to turn back up. The NASDAQ led the way and that's a plus. New all time highs for the NASDAQ and S&P 500. No overhead resistance now. The S&P remains short term overbought on some of its indicators. My SPY August put trade went from a small gain to a medium loss overnight. My stop loss order was hit for a 40% drop on the trade. The techncial set up was OK for this idea but not the best that it could have been. I think that I was anxious to make a trade since I hadn't done one in a few months. I also think that I relied too much for a favorable reaction to the economic data on the trade rather than the techncial set up. Although the entry was good, the gap higher at todays open doomed this trade. The theme for me so far this year has been missed trades and losing trades. Needs to be corrected. Gold was off five bucks today. The US dollar was lower and interest rates finished mixed. The XAU was up 2 2/3, while GDX rose 1/2. Volume was pretty light. GDX continues to be short term overbought. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was sharply lower today and is now below the 15 level. The short term indicators here are oversold. During rallies they remain that way and that might happen now. Three days left in the August option cycle and I should remain on the sidelines. But who knows? I might try the August puts again ahead of Friday but it would be very risky. Asia and Europe were up for the most part. India and Germany posted losses. If the up/down pattern holds the S&P will be lower tomorrow. We'll see.

The market continues with its alternating up and down day pattern as the Dow fell 200 points on good volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is still trending lower. It was quiet for much of the session until we got some last minute gyrations. The Dow led the way lower and that isn't the most bearish scenario. The NASDAQ along with the S&P 500 posted small losses. The short term indicators for the S&P are beginning to stall. I did place an order for the SPY August puts this morning and this time it got filled near the high for the day. The entry point was spot on. It is showing a small profit at the moment. Tomorrows inflation data will probably determine the fate of this idea. Gold lost $90 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates finished little changed. The XAU fell a point and GDX dipped 1/3. Volume was light. Gold got clobbered and the gold shares did not. That is a positive for the gold share indices. GDX remains short term overbought. Money simply continues to flow into this area. Mentally I'm feeling a little tired. The VIX was up today and that fits a down market. The short term indicators here are trying to turn back up. If successful, the market will continue lower and the SPY put idea will work. If not we'll probably head up to new all time highs. Tomorrow will most likely be the key. Asia higher and Europe lower to start the trading week. I'll keep an eye on the overnight headlines.

We've been moving back and forth between gains and losses each day for the past week. The Dow gained 207 points on good volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is still trending lower. The NASDAQ led the charge and that's a plus for the bulls. The S&P 500 had a decent gain and is almost to its upper Bollinger band. The short term indicators here are moving higher with room to go. I might have to reconsider my SPY August put idea at this rate. Something to ponder over the weekend. Gold was up a couple bucks on the futures. The US dollar was a bit lower and interest rates a bit higher. The XAU and GDX had fractional gains on below average volume. GDX is now short term overbought. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today which fits an up market. Getting to short term oversold on the indicators but not all the way there yet. Plenty of work to do over the weekend as I have to try and figure out what to do next week. The short term trades are not my best efforts usually. However we'll see how it goes this time around. The stock market has shown a lot of resilience lately and it may not pay to go against that. But we'll have to wait and see what happens over the weekend. Europe was mixed on Friday and Asia lower with the exception of Japan. It's Friday afternoon and time for a rest.

Another one day downside reversal as markets opened higher and closed lower. The Dow fell 224 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were slightly negative. The summation index continues lower. We have had a few one day downside reversals lately and none of them have amounted to more than a day. Eventually that will change. The NASDAQ made it back to positive territory at the close but the S&P 500 had a minor loss. The short term indicators for the S&P are still around the mid-range level and beginning to track sideways. It is a sign of indecision. I'm still looking at getting the SPY August puts ahead of the inflation data next Tuesday. Gold was up $37 on the futures. The US dollar was a bit lower and interest rates a touch higher. The XAU was up 4 1/4 and GDX added 1/2. Volume was average. Short term overbought now on GDX. If we see a move back to 54.5 on GDX we may try the calls there. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today in a mixed market. The short term indicators appear like that they want to turn back up. That would not be a plus for stocks if it happens. I am probably going to let Friday go by and look to make the next trade on strength at some point on Monday. Asia and Europe were higher overnight with the exception of the FTSE. We'll close out the week tomorrow.

Moving higher today as the Dow gained 81 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were slightly negative. The summation index is still moving lower. The overall market did much better than the Dow. The NASDAQ was up 1 1/4%, while the S&P 500 posted a decent gain. Earnings were the main driver today. The short term indicators for the S&P are moving higher with room to go. I still like the idea of the SPY August puts again ahead of the inflation data next Tuesday. The timing of when to purchase them will be the key. Gold was off a buck today. The US dollar was lower and interest rates finished little changed except on the long end. The XAU rose 3 points and GDX gained 7/8. Volume was light. GDX has gotten to short term overbought and may need a rest. The gold shares have followed the market higher while gold itself has stalled. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was down today and the short term indicators are heading lower. This implies more gains for stocks in the coming sessions. I guess what we'd like to see now is a new all time high for the S&P with a lower RSI reading. That would set us up to try the SPY puts. However as you all know markets rarely cooperate with the best laid plans that we have. Europe and Asia were up with the exception of India. We'll watch for any overnight developments.

Back to the downside today as the Dow dipped 62 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index continues lower. The overall market was weaker than the Dow. The NASDAQ led the way lower. It was another one day downside reversal. The short term indicators for the S&P are about mid-range. I'm getting the idea that things could go either way here. I still want to try the SPY puts at some point before option expiration next week. The Bollinger bands for the S&P remain tight so I believe that we will get some kind of tradeable move soon. Gold was up $8 on the futures. The US dollar finished flat and interest rates were mixed. The XAU was up 6 1/8, while GDX added 1 1/2. Volume was good to the upside as the gold shares have broken out. Our only hope now is that GDX revisits the breakout point at around 54.5 so that we can get some calls. GDX is on the way to short term overbought but not there yet. The gold shares outperforming the metal itself is bullish. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The VIX was a bit higher today. The short term indicators here are stalling at the mid-range level. Not sure what's next here for the VIX. Volatility has returned though. The market is light on economic data this week. Asia and Europe finished generally higher. We'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.

Quite a bounce back today as the Dow gained 585 points on good volume. The advance/declines were 4 to 1 positive. The summation index is still moving lower. We were looking for a rally out of nowhere and we got it today. However I have to say not so fast on buying those SPY August puts as this particular rally might have legs. We are going to have to patiently wait for a signal with less than two weeks to go in the August option cycle. The NASDAQ led the way higher and that's a plus for the bulls. Some of the short term indicators for the S&P 500 are moving back up. The broadness of todays price action leads me to believe that there will be more near term gains. Gold rose thirty bucks on the futures. The US dollar was lower and interest rates dropped a touch. The XAU was up 9 1/4 and GDX jumped 2 1/2. Volume was above average. GDX is on the verge of breaking out of a two month consolidation to the upside. The short term indicators are moving up with room to go. It looks like I've missed out on the calls here again. Just as we started looking at the GDX September calls they took off to the upside without us. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX turned right back down and closed beneath both the 50 and 200 day moving averages. Some of the short term indicators have turned back down. Tomorrows VIX movement could tell us a lot about where things are going. Perhaps. We didn't see any real selling today in the stock market as it gapped higher at the open and just kept on going. This happened despite the huge losses on Friday. Interesting times. Europe and Asia were higher with the exception of Japan. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Stocks got clobbered today as the Dow fell 542 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is heading down. The employment report came in weaker than expected and some earnings were a disappointment. For now it looks like any rally can be shorted. The NASDAQ led the way lower and that is not a good sign for the bulls. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 have rolled over with room to go. We will look for a strong rally out of nowhere in order to try the SPY August puts at some point next week. We have missed the ideal entry for this trade though. However at least we know that our ideas are on the right track. Gold rallied in a flight to safety as the futures gained $64. The US dollar was lower along with interest rates. The XAU gained 2 1/4, while GDX added 3/4. Volume was average. The short term indicators for GDX are trying to turn back up. I'm now looking st the GDX September calls as a possible trade. We'll see. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The VIX shot up today and closed above the 20 level. It is now also above both its 50 and 200 day moving averages. The short term indicators here are moving up and some have room to go before getting overbought. It appears that the tight Bollinger bands on the VIX implied a move higher for this indicator. It was quite a week for the markets and we were expecting some kind of fireworks with all the data coming out. But the most important thing now is where we go from here and how do we capitalize on it? Certainly we will expect more selling to occur. I'll be going over all the charts this weekend in an attempt to find the best opportunity. Asia and Europe finished down as we had a worldwide head to the exits. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.