Bouncing back today ahead of a long weekend as the Dow gained 72 points on expiration extremely heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is tracking sideways. The overall market was much stronger than the Dow with the NASDAQ leading the way. That is a plus for the bulls. The S&P 500 was up over 1%. The short term indicators there are starting to turn back up. No SPY option trades in mind at the moment. Gold dropped another $50 or so on the futures. The US dollar continues to move higher and interest rates finished flat. The XAU lost 7 7/8, while GDX fell about two points. Volume was heavy again to the downside. The short term indicators for GDX are trending lower with room to go. Ideally a retest of last weeks lows would set us up to purchase the GDX July calls. The market rarely cooperates. I still like the idea of the July gold share calls on weakness so we'll see how it goes. I will recheck the charts this weekend and take it from there. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was back down today which fits an up market. The short term indicators here have turned back lower. Not exactly sure what's next for the VIX. An extra day over this weekend to check things out after a somewhat volatile trading week. We are beginning to move into summer trading mode with players starting to take time off. The July option trading cycle has a day less in it with another holiday coming in two weeks. Europe and Asia were mixed overnight. It's Thursday afternoon and time for a break.

Sellers returned to the market in force today as the Dow fell 507 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were around 3 to 1 negative. The summation index is beginning to stall. No change in rates as expected from the Fed but I suppose the market didn't like what it heard from the new Fed chairman. The NASDAQ led things lower again. The S&P 500 lost over ninety points as stocks unraveled in the final hour or so. Some of its short term indicators are now moving down. If the S&P keeps moving down it would negate the positive price action that we've seen recently. Gold lost $93 on the futures. The US dollar had a very strong session and interest rates were up. The XAU fell 9 1/2, while GDX shed 2 7/8. Volume was very heavy to the downside. GDX made it up to the 50 day moving average and longer turn down trend line before selling off. The short term indicators for GDX are beginning to stall. We are looking for a pullback on GDX in order to purchase the July calls here. This is probably the start of it. I may place an open order overnight. We'll see. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was higher today and that fits with a down market. Some of the short term indicators here have turned back up. Still below the 20 level on the VIX. Not sure what's coming next here. We'll have an option expiration Thursday tomorrow due to a holiday leading into a long weekend. Not sure that we want to hold any positions ahead of that and the supposed signing of the Iran peace deal on Friday. However we'll have to see what happens tomorrow. Asia was generally higher and Europe slightly mixed last night. We'll close out the trading week on Thursday.

Hanging around today and it was a mixed picture. The Dow gained 328 points on heavy volume to close at a new all time high. The advance/declines were slightly positive. The summation index is still trending upwards. Both the NASDAQ and S&P 500 posted losses. The NASDAQ led the way down which isn't a bullish picture. We did get a signal last night from the McClellan oscillator for a big move within the next two sessions. Today would qualify for the NASDAQ. The short term indicators for the S&P are beginning to stall. I did not try the SPY June puts today. The S&P only had a small rally early on before trending lower for the rest of the day. However if you purchased the puts early on you would have had a tidy profit by the days end. But the short term trades are usually not my best efforts. The market will greet the new Fed chairman tomorrow and that should get things going one way or the other. But there are only two days left in the June option cycle so we will move on to July. Gold had only a slight gain today. The US dollar was a bit lower as were interest rates. The XAU was up 7 1/2 and GDX added a couple points. Volume was average. The gold shares continue to outperform the metal itself and that is a plus for the gold bulls. The short term indicators for GDX are still moving higher. We are waiting for some kind of pullback in GDX in order to try the July calls there. That looks to be the next trade unless we get a solid signal for the SPY options. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up slightly today which fits with and overall down market. Its short term indicators are beginning to stall. Not sure what's coming next here for the VIX. Asia was mixed and Europe higher last night. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

A big rally to start the shortened option expiration week as the Dow gained 468 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is trending higher. An extended ceasefire to the Iran conflict is supposed to happen on Friday, which brought buyers to the market. The NASDAQ led the way higher by far and that is a plus for the bulls. We still have the new Fed chairman to deal with on Wednesday. The S&P 500 was up almost 125 points. The short term indicators there are moving higher with room to go. Another day like today for tomorrow would put the index back at new all time highs. Trying the SPY June puts on strength tomorrow is still an idea but I'll probably just stay on the sidelines. We'll see. Gold ralled as the futures gained over a hundred bucks today. The US dollar was slightly lower along with interest rates. The XAU jumped over twenty points, while GDX added 5 1/8. Volume was heavy to the upside. The short term indicators for GDX are also moving higher with room to go. It appears that we've missed the GDX July call trade but if we do see any pullback, I'll be trying this idea. GDX broke through its short term down trend line today. The longer term down trend line comes in at the 90 level which is also where you'll find the 50 day moving average. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX is heading lower and that is a plus for stocks. The short term indicators here are moving down and are not yet oversold. It appears that most signs are pointing towards higher stock prices going forward. The SPY put trade that I mentioned would strictly be a short term attempt. In Tuesday and out on Wednesday but the risk would be extremely high. We should probably wait for a better set up. Asia and Europe were higher as the world would welcome calmer seas. We'll see what transpires overnight.

Still moving higher going into the weekend as the Dow gained 353 points on good volume. The advance/declines were 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is starting to move back up. The Dow led things higher today and that isn't the most bullish scenario. The S&P 500 was up 1/2%. The short term indicators there are trending higher with some back to mid-range. I'm thinking that if we see strength into Tuesday of next week perhaps we'll try the SPY June puts ahead of the Fed. It is a holiday shortened option expiration week though, with US markets closed on Friday. So any June option trade would be filled with a lot of risk at this point. I'll consider things over the weekend. Gold was up $114 on the futures. The US dollar was a bit lower and interest rates a bit higher. The XAU rose 9 1/2 and GDX was up 2 1/3. Volume was above average. The short term indicators for GDX are moving up with plenty of room to go. The weekly candlestick chart here has a potential bullish star or hammer on it. I canceled my open order for the GDX July calls as I've missed the chance at the moment. However I still like the idea of this trade and will be looking to buy some GDX calls on any forthcoming weakness. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and that fits the upside market for today. The short term indicators here are moving down. The VIX is back below 20 and the daily chart looks like it wants to go lower which would bode well for stocks. But I can't say that I have a good feel for where the VIX is heading next after the volatility of this week. I'll be checking the charts as usual over the weekend. Asia and Europe were both higher to end the week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

Moving back to the upside as the Dow climbed 930 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were around 3 to 1 positive. The summation index is now trying to turn back up. The inflation data was higher than expected but the market rallied anyway. That tells us something because when the market ignores bad news it is probably ready to move higher. There might be some backing and filling but our guess would be that this decline has run its course. Unless we see some kind of big 1000 point decline in the Dow tomorrow but I doubt it. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 have turned up. It also closed above the short term down trend line that was in effect. No SPY option trades in mind right now with only five days left in the June option cycle but that could change. Gold was up $96 on the futures. The US dollar was lower and so were interest rates. The XAU was up around 16 3/4 and GDX added about 4. Volume was heavy to the upside. I did place an open order for the GDX July calls overnight but it wasn't filled. I am leaving it out there but it may be too late already. The short term indicators for GDX are turning back up but remain oversold. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today and that fits with the rally. Back below the 20 level and the short term indicators here are heading lower. If the VIX can stay below 20 we'll know that the decline is over. If it can't our thinking here will be wrong. So it is something to keep an eye on. Another factor to consider is todays big rally out of nowhere. Sometimes in longer declines this is what you see before quickly turning back down. So market action tomorrow is something to be closely watched as well. Europe was higher and Asia generally lower overnight. We'll close out the trading week tomorrow.

Continuing lower today as the Dow fell 953 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were negative. The summation index is still trending lower. The NASDAQ led the way down again. The inflation data came in where expected. Support for the S&P 500 comes in at 7150, with better support at 7000. Depending on the reaction to tomorrows inflation news we could get to the first area of support soon. The short term indicators for the S&P are now heading lower but not yet completely oversold. I'm still interested in the SPY June puts again if perhaps we snap back to the short term down trend line. That comes in around 7350. There is a possible double bottom on the S&P hourly chart though. Plenty to ponder at the moment. Gold got clobbered again as the futures fell 186 points. The US dollar was slightly higher and so were interest rates. The XAU lost 14 3/4, while GDX fell 3 3/4. Volume was above average. The short term indicators for GDX remain oversold. I will be checking the charts again tonight but I may place an open order for the GDX July calls overnight. The gold shares are in a bear market but they are blown out to the downside and due for at least a bounce. We'll see. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The VIX was up today and that fits a down market. Back above the 20 level. The short term indicators on the VIX have turned up and are just about completely overbought. Another day like today would do it. With the VIX over 20, volatility will be the rule. Most of Europe and Asia were down overnight. I'll keep an eye out for any new developments this evening.

Volatilty was the name of the game today along with one day downside reversals as most indices opened higher and closed lower. The Dow however did manage a gain of 86 points on pretty heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is still trending lower. The NASDAQ led the way down and that is still the underlying theme. We had a big gap at the open and markets powered higher but it was short lived. Stocks then turned around and went into free fall for a couple of hours only to turn back around and recoup almost all of the losses. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 are all over the place. Some are moving lower, some higher and the rest sideways. During the brief morning rally I was stopped out of my SPY June put position only to see things turn back down during the session. The trade had around a 30% gain but should have been much more. I've been stopped out before only to see things turn around on a trade and that is one of the reasons why I sometimes don't use them. There are also many times where the stop has saved me from bigger losses. The entry on this trade was OK even though not the best but the exit was terrible. That said we simply move on from here because that position is over. I am still considering the SPY June puts if we see some rally the rest of this week. Gold fell $81 on the futures. The US dollar was a bit lower along with interest rates. The XAU dropped 4 1/3, while GDX slid about a point. Volume was above average. The short term indicators for GDX are still oversold. We are now thinking about the GDX July calls but not exactly sure if that will be the next trade. Mentally I'm feeling frustrated as to getting stopped out of what could have been a huge gain. But the market doesn't care and you've got to keep moving forward in this game. The VIX was higher today but off of its best levels. Some of the short term indicators here are heading sideways and some are still heading higher. The VIX closed just below the 20 level. I'm still not sure where the VIX is headed but anything above 20 spells more selling for stocks. It is another reason to still consider the SPY June puts going forward. Seven days left for the June option cycle. Inflation data due out tomorrow should get things moving once again. Asia was generally higher and Europe generally lower overnight. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Bouncing back today for the overall market but not the Dow as it fell 80 points on good volume. The advance/declines were slightly negative. The summation index is starting to drift lower. We had a big gap up at the open and rallied for the first hour and a half. The rest of the day was spent in a slow decline. The NASDAQ led the way higher and that is a plus for the bulls. Also the fact that we didn't see any downside follow through to Fridays debacle is a positive sign. Some of the short term indicators for the S&P 500 have turned sideways. It looks like Friday could have just been a one day wonder. We've got inflation data due out on Wednesday and Thursday. I don't know how much longer I can afford to hold on the my SPY June puts. I do have a stop loss order in place and they are still showing a profit. However the gains are less than what they were on Friday. I'll once again consider what to do with them tonight. Gold was off $14 on the futures. The US dollar was a bit lower and interest rates finished mixed. The XAU and GDX had fractional losses on lighter volume. The short term indicators for GDX remain oversold. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The VIX was lower today and that fits with an overall positive day for stocks. It is back below the 20 level. Some of the short term indicators here have turned back down. I'm not sure what comes next for the VIX. Asia and Europe were lower to begin the week. We'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.

We often say that the market goes where it wants and todays price action certainly underscores that truth. Stocks got clobbered but the Dow only fell 695 points which wasn't as bad as some of the other stock indices. Volume was heavy. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 negative. The summation index is starting to drop out of the sideways channel that it's in. The jobs report came in better than expected. The NASDAQ led the way down and fell over a thousand points. That was better than a 4% drop. The S&P 500 lost 200 points for a better than 2 1/2% dip. It was a rush to the exits but the TRAN posted a gain on the day probably due to the drop in the price of oil. The S&P 500 broke through the short term up trend line that had been in effect since the beginning of April. The short term indicators here are now steeply heading south and at this rate will be oversold on Monday. It looks like the sell signal we got last week was valid although it took some time to come to fruition. The negative RSI divergence on the S&P daily chart worked this time around as well. Not sure how low things will go here but we'll check the charts over the weekend. The advance/declines today were not as bad as the price declines that we saw. Gold got clocked as well with the futures down $166. The XAU lost 31 1/2 and GDX dropped around 7 1/2. Volume was heavy to the downside. GDX has now dropped well below its 200 day moving average as it did not hold. The short term indicators here are pointing down in oversold territory. 80 was the next level of support here and it closed below that. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX had a huge jump today and closed above the 20 level. That was certainly a surprise to me. Could spell more trouble for stocks. The short term indicators here zoomed up and some still have room to go before being overbought. Things here for the VIX have changed in a hurry. Not sure what comes next. The SPY June puts that I hold went from solid losers to solid winners in a day. Not sure how much longer that I'll hold them but will try and figure that out over the weekend. Plenty of work to do in the next two days. Asia and Europe were lower to finish the trading week. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

The Dow powered higher today as it gained 874 points to a new all time high on heavy volume. The advance/declines were better than 2 to 1 positive. The summation index is now in a sideways channel. We had a huge gap lower at the open for most of the major indices but they moved back up for the rest of the session. The NASDAQ only posted a small loss after being down much more early on. The S&P 500 had a one day upside reversal as it opened lower and closed higher. The short term indicators there remain overbought and some are moving back up. My SPY June put position was at break even on the open but then deteriorated for the rest of the day. It is now back to being solidly in the red and will most likely finish as a loser. We needed to see some follow through selling to yesterdays decline but we quickly only got it this morning before turning around. My management of this trade hasn't been that good but we do have two weeks left in the June option cycle. Gold was up $41 on the futures. The US dolllar was a bit lower as were interest rates. The XAU was up 5 1/4, while GDX added 1 3/8. Volume was light. The short term indicators for GDX are trying to turn back up as it also tries to hold on to its 200 day moving average. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today which fits an upside day for most stocks. It remains short term oversold and remains that way during rallies like the one that we're in now. The employment data is due out tomorrow which can be a market mover if there are any surprises. We are still at the mercy of the next headline out of the Middle East. Asia was lower and Europe higher overnight. We'll close out the week tomorrow.

A bit of selling today as the Dow fell 620 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were 3 to 1 negative. The summation index is beginning to turn lower. The Dow led things lower which isn't the most bearish scenario. Let's face it, stocks were overdue for some kind of downside reaction. The market doesn't go up every day in a row. The question is whether or not this is the beginning of some sustained move to the downside or just a breather. The short term indicators on the S&P 500 have turned lower but remain overbought. The negative RSI divergence on the daily chart is there. It's possible that today is all we get out of that signal. We'll see if there's more but the market goes where it wants. My SPY June puts are showing less of a loss. Not sure how much longer I want to hold this trade. We'll check things out again tonight. Gold was down $52 today. The US dollar was higher along with interest rates. The XAU lost over 12 1/2 and GDX dropped around 3 points. Volume was lighter than average. The short term indicators for GDX are still moving sideways in oversold territory. GDX did close below its 200 day moving average. No GDX trades in mind at the moment. Mentally I'm feeling a bit tired. The VIX was higher today but not by much considerng the drop in stocks. The short term indicators here remain oversold. Not sure what to expect next with regards to the VIX. The jobs report on Friday should be the next market mover unless we get some headlines out of the Middle East. Europe was lower and Asia mixed again last night. I'll keep an eye on tonights developments.

The Dow led the way today as it gained 228 points on heavy volume. The advance/declines were positive. The summation index is tracking sideways. New all time highs were registered again for the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500. The sell signal that we received from one of our indicators last week did not work again. It is the second time in a row that it failed. Can't say that I've seen that happen recently. The short term indicators for the S&P simply remain overbought as the market drifts higher. The potential negative RSI divergence on the S&P daily chart still barely exists. My SPY June put trade is a loser and we may already be in a cut the loss mode for it. All declines are still being bought. Gold was up ten bucks on the futures. The US dollar finished flat and interest rates were a touch lower. The XAU rose around 5 3/4, while GDX added about 1 3/8. Volume was a little below average. The short term indicators are still trying to turn higher from oversold for GDX. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was lower today which fits an up market. It's short term indicators remain in oversold territory. The daily candlestick chart here looks like it wants to go lower which would bode well for stocks. There seems to be ample money flowing around that wants to find a home in equities. If the market doesn't head lower tomorrow I will have to seriously think about getting out of the SPY put trade. We'll see. Europe and Asia were higher with the exception of Japan. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Continuing higher to start the week as the Dow rose 46 points on pretty heavy volume. The advance/declines were slightly negative. The summation index is beginning to stall. The NASDAQ was the leader to the upside and that's a plus for the bulls. New all time highs for the Dow, NASDAQ and S&P 500 again. It looks like the sell signal that we got last week isn't going to work again but we'll give it a couple of more days this week. The short term indicators for the S&P 500 remain overbought and staying that way. The potential negative RSI divergence on the S&P daily chart remains barely intact. My SPY June puts are now showing a loss as it looks like today was the perhaps the proper time to buy them. Still plenty of time for this trade to work out but not if the rally continues. Gold lost $82 on the futures. The US dollar was higher and interest rates finished mixed. The XAU shed 7 1/2, while GDX lost around 2 3/4. Volume was a bit above average. The gold shares did finish up from their lows on the day. The short term indicators for GDX are choppy on the oversold side. The 200 day moving average remains as near term support. Mentally I'm feeling OK. The VIX was up today which doesn't fit with a positive day for stocks. The short term indicators are turning higher but remain in oversold territory. Not sure what comes next for the VIX. Light on the economic data due out this week. Fridays jobs report is the one that will be closely watched. Asia was mixed and Europe lower to start the week. I'll keep an eye on tonights headlines.