The Dow lost 312 points on good volume. Advance/declines were over 5 to 1 negative. Still building a bottom here in my opinion. I'm thinking that Monday will be a positive day because we have moved back to oversold on a short term basis. But you never know. Gold was up over $15 today. I am having computer issues again so the quotes are not up right now. The XAU was higher today, as was ABX, GG and NEM. GE was down on heavy volume. I'm leaving in the open order for December calls there. Mentally I'm doing as well as can be expected. The computer problems should be over by Monday morning, hopefully. You can't expect to be able to trade when there are data feed issues. It's hard enough when things are going normally, technology wise. So on it goes. I'll take a break over the weekend. Check the charts, if possible and go from there. I've got my on on some stocks to purchase for what I believe will be a playable rally in the coming months. But I could be wrong. It may just be a sideways affair until we head lower again next year. Time for a rest.

It was a back and forth day and the Dow ended up 172 on average volume. Advance/declines were about 2 to 1 negative. Today could have been the final retest of the lows but only time will tell on that. Could we break down here? I'm saying we won't but anything can happen. However, I still feel we are forming a bottom. Gold continues its slide, down another 20 bucks. The XAU was off 3 3/4. ABX, GG and NEM all shed at least a buck and the volume was very heavy. The Gold/XAU ratio is in double digits. Unheard of. I don't know what to say there because it is incredible. GE was off a bit but was much lower during the trading day. The volume there too was extremely heavy. I'm leaving in my open order for calls there. We did hit a new recent low in GE today. However I'm sticking with the bottoming scenario. Mentally I'm doing OK. Interesting times in the market this week. There is an extra week on the November option cycle as well. We'll see what happens tomorrow but the thinking here is that we will be heading higher.

Settling things out on a negative day as the Dow loses 513 points. The advance/declines are at least 6 to 1 negative on heavy volume. A retest of the recent lows? That's my story and I'm sticking to it. But in this environment, who knows? I do feel we are building a bottom here though. May take a while. The market, as always, will go where it wants. Gold continues to the downside, off over $30 today. The gold stocks have been obliterated. ABX and GG shed 3 or more. NEM lost 4. Volume heavy. Is there no end in sight? The dollar has had a tremendous safe haven rise since last month. Oil continues lower as well. Deflation? We'll see. GE lost over 1 1/4 on heavy volume. It didn't help the December calls that I'm looking to purchase. The price actually went up as the volatility premium returns to the prices. It makes some sense but it's a different kind of option market at this point. One of which I'm not familiar. I'm leaving the order in but I may change my mind tomorrow. Mentally I'm doing as well as can be expected. Still having computer and information feed issues. That doesn't make the trading any easier. We will have to see where the market goes for the rest of the week and take it from there.

To the downside today as the Dow lost 231 points on average volume. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 negative. Volume has slowed from what it was but it is average by pre-collapse standards. Sure, we can go up and down for a while as the market forms a bottom here. Summation index continues higher. The worst is over for now in my opinion. Gold got trashed again, off over $20. ABX, GG and NEM were all down 2 or more on average volume. Nothing doing there for now. GE was up 20 cents on good volume. Up on a down day. The relative strength is there. I'm keeping in my open order for December calls. However it could be that GE is already going to move to the upside. I'm not going to chase it. Mentally I'm doing OK, having some computer issues. Feeling better but cannot push things here. If the GE trade comes to me I'll do it. Otherwise I'll be looking for the usual signals for the OEX which haven't appeared since we fell apart. I'm thinking things will get back to somewhat normal which should help with the overall trading. But you never know.

Continuing higher on a Monday as the Dow gained 411 points on average volume. Advance/declines are about 5 to 1. This should turn the summation index around as we begin to move higher on that index. The bottom for now is in. That's my opinion as it has been for a few days. That's not to say that I'm correct with that prognosis, it's just what I think. The market will go where it wants. Gold was up a couple bucks but the XAU rose over 9 points. ABX and NEM up over 3 points, with GG up 2 1/2. Volume pretty good for all as well. The gold shares either have to go up or the price of gold down to get the Gold/XAU ratio back to something resembling normal. I'd love to try and trade it again but I'm staying away for now. GE was up about a half on heavy volume. I like GE to the upside here. I'm keeping in my open order for December calls. Mentally I'm doing OK, slept well enough. A new option cycle and I've noticed some of the volatility premium is being sucked out of the option prices today. As we get back to a more normal market atmosphere, the option prices will shrink. That has to be taken into consideration. The game never gets any easier. Earnings will be coming out and that will be an individual stock mover for the next few weeks. On to tomorrow.

Option expiration Friday as the Dow lost 127 points on good volume. Advance/declines were positive. We opened lower, had a nice gain and then closed down for the day. We are forming a bottom here as far as I can tell. That's my guess at this point and I'm sticking to it. Sure we could go down to the lows again but I feel that they will hold this time around. So we'll see. Gold had another bad day, off over $15. The XAU was down 2 1/2. ABX, GG and NEM all down on good volume. Will gold come back? We're under $800 now. The dollar is the place where money is flowing. I guess I'll have to be patient with the HL shares that I own but I don't expect any rallies there anytime soon. It looks like a wait until next year scenario there. GE lost 1/3 on very heavy volume. I adjusted the open order that I have for December calls. I still think that is a trade that will work. But sometimes GE moves sideways for months at a time. And I always think every trade will work but we know better than that. I'm willing to give it a try though. Mentally I did not sleep long enough and haven't been 100% for a couple of weeks now. I am feeling better but not all the way back yet. There's work to do over the weekend. Charts must be checked. Reading must be done. The game never stops. I do think that the worst is over for now. Perhaps a rally will take place or it could be a few months of sideways action instead. Time will tell. For now it's the weekend and time for a break.

The post is a bit early today as I have other commitments. We are up almost 400 points at the moment. Volume is good and the advance/declines are negative. Weakness can be bought in my opinion and the worst is over for now. I could be wrong. It is expiration week so anything goes tomorrow. Gold got killed today, down $35. The XAU is off about 7 as we speak. ABX and GG down over 2, with NEM off 1 1/2. Volume extremely heavy on the gold shares. The Gold/XAU ratio sets new records everyday it seems. This can't go on forever. But who knows? Gold could be signaling deflation ahead and that is a possibility. If that's the case the gold shares will be dead money. Time will tell and I really don't have a handle on it at the moment. GE is up 1/2 on extremely heavy volume. I'm leaving in the open order for December calls but at this rate it will not get filled. I should cancel it before the weekend. I do believe that calls are the way to go there for now. Mentally I'm tired, did not sleep well. Still not feeling good either. It wasn't a good time to be ill but when is? I'm going to tread lightly here for now until I can assess the damage and come up with a game plan going forward.

Back to the downside and that is to be expected. The Dow dropped 733 points on heavy volume. Advance/declines were about 9 to 1 negative. We are going to retest the lows. Whether or not they hold is the question. I think they will and I'm sticking with that forecast. However anything can happen in an environment such as this. It is options expiration week and that intensifies the moves both up and down. I'm a believer that the lows of last Friday will hold. Gold was flat but is rallying in the aftermarket. The XAU got clobbered again, down 12 points. ABX, GG and NEM were all off about 2 points on average volume. I'd love to get some gold share calls here but an looking elsewhere at the moment. GE lost over 1 1/2 on heavy volume. This is where I'm looking. I'm in no hurry but I am leaving in an overnight order for December calls. It will take a big decline to hit the price I've put in so we'll see. I'm not expecting the market to crash. It already has in my opinion. Mentally I'm doing as good as I can. Still not feeling well and that clouds things for now. It has been quite a month so far and no one knows what the future will bring. So we'll see what happens.

A bounce around day after yesterdays huge rise. The Dow ended down 76 points on good volume. Advance/declines were positive. Yes, it's not going to be straight up from here but I'm sticking with the belief that the worst is over. Any retest of the lows can be bought in my opinion. I could be wrong but in this case I don't think so. Gold lost a few bucks and the XAU was up almost 3. ABX, GG and NEM were all higher and the volume was good there. I still like the gold shares but have no trades in the works for now. GE lost 1/4 on very heavy volume. I'm still thinking December calls there. However at the moment, I'm inclined to just let this week pass. Mentally I'm still in a fog with the cold or flu. Not a good time to be trading, especially in a market like this. I'm not feeling up to it. There will be other trades down the road. It is a tough enough game when you're feeling well. Option expiration week as well. So I'll have to be patient and try to get back to normal. Forcing the issue here would not be a good strategy. On to tomorrow.

Finally a rally and a big one at that. The Dow had its best day ever, up 936 points on good volume. Advance/declines were 15 to 1. Dead cat bounce? No. We've seen the lows for this move down. We may have a retest but in my opinion it will hold and we've seen the worst for now. And it was pretty bad. But it's done. I do think that next year or later we will see lower lows but that is in the future. I'd say the final low will be in the fall of 2010. But that's way ahead of myself. For now I'd expect follow through tomorrow and then we'll head back down. But that's a guess. Gold lost another $15 today and the XAU rose 4 points. The gold shares were mixed with ABX off about 2, GG off 3/4 and NEM up 1 3/4. NEM has been the leader, so I would expect strength in the gold shares tomorrow. I dumped the remaining GG calls for the same 80% loss. It's time to move on. I did not recognize the extreme market conditions in time to do anything correct. If I did recognize them, I didn't react quickly enough. It was s series of dumb moves. I had chances to get out but did not. It's nobodies fault but mine. I'm still a longer term believer in gold here. The Gold/XAU ratio is still far out of whack. It will return to some sort of normalcy eventually. GE lost 1/2 on good volume. I don't know what to think about that. The market goes crazy upside and GE goes down? Not trades there. Mentally I'm still slow and not feeling up to par. I still have a cold and it is slow to move on. I am however finally flat and out of the market. My guess is that I'll stay that way until I'm feeling better. Finally some common sense. Costly though. It should be an interesting week but I'll have to watch from the sidelines.

Yes, it's a crazy time in the markets. We were down over 500, up almost 300 and closed off 128. Volume was heavy. The advance/declines were 2 to 1 negative. I think we are near the bottom. Perhaps a retest of the lows on Monday and a rally from there. That's my guess. We are as oversold as it gets. But who knows? In this type of atmosphere, anything goes. Gold got clobbered today, down $30 after being up $30. ABX, GG and NEM were all off 4 to 5 dollars on heavy volume. I dumped half the GG calls for an 80% loss. Probably should have sold them all but I do expect a huge rally at some point next week that will bring everything higher. I could be wrong. I really needed to be up early and things might have worked out better but I'm still sick. You can't expect good results if you're not up to the task. Definitely a bearish move for gold. GE was higher by about 1 3/4 today on insanely heavy volume. I think you have to get some calls there because that trade could work. What I didn't like was the options in December that I'm looking at barely moved even with a decent move in the stock. So we'll see. Perhaps I'll try it on weakness Monday. Mentally I'm spent. Tough enough to play the game when you're feeling good, which I'm not. I really should have just bailed out of whatever trades I had the day I felt ill. But it's always easy to look back. I will try and take it easy over the weekend but there are a lot of things to do. I do need a rest though. There is no making sense of what is happening at the moment. The sidelines are not a bad place to be. Cash is still King in my opinion. Time for a break.

Wrong again. I was looking for some type of rally here and it definitely didn't happen. Oversold and staying there which as todays action suggests, is dangerous. The Dow lost 678 points on heavy volume. Advance/declines were 10 to 1 negative. It's as oversold as it gets. What I'm asking myself today is why haven't I been short? Incredible amounts of money are being made there and I missed it. Preoccupied with the gold trade? Too many other things going on outside of the markets? Feeling ill? No sense in looking back now. Even if I had owned some puts, I would have sold them long before today. But as I've said before, the normal technical analysis just isn't working in this type of environment. Gold lost $20 today but has rallied in the aftermarket. ABX lost 3/4, GG down 1 1/2, NEM off 3. All down on good volume. Now exactly how much longer am I going to hold out of the money GG calls with a week to go? I am getting as crazy as the market. Gold itself has held up well here but the gold shares just aren't keeping up. The premise was correct it seems but the trading vehicle was wrong. GE was off over a buck and a half on extremely heavy volume. Do the earnings tomorrow even mean anything anymore? I would like to have the guts to buy some GE calls tomorrow. Or lack of brains. GE is not going out of business and it's under $20 a share. We will see a bounce eventually and that is when you can take your profits. Sounds good in a reasonable market. Which this isn't. Mentally I'm tired and still not feeling well. Maybe being sick is a blessing in disguise since I haven't done anything stupid like buy OEX calls lately. I'm getting better though. Where do we go from here? Well the decline won't last forever. It's gone a lot further than I imagined. I'm thinking if GE is weak tomorrow morning I'll look at the December calls. But that's a guess just like anything else in trying times like these.

Down, up, down, up, down as you get the picture of todays action. The Dow lost another 189 points on good volume. Advance/declines were 3 to 1 negative. I still feel an oversold rally is imminent. Tomorrow? Friday? Yes I do think that is in the cards. The Fed cut rates today and so did some other countries around the globe. That won't unfreeze the credit markets but at least it shows that they're trying. These are some interesting times indeed. If I had any guts I'd buy some OEX calls on weakness tomorrow. Gold was up another $25 today and the XAU finally got into the act, up almost 18. ABX, GG and NEM all gained around 5 bucks and the volume was extremely heavy. Half the GG calls are back in the black. We are seeing 15% to 20% moves in stocks for just one day. It is insane. Only 7 days left for the October option cycle. However todays action in the gold shares, with the accompanying volume, says there is more room to go on the upside. I really need to be careful. GE was up 1/2 on good volume and the earnings are out on Friday. That is going to be market moving. Which way is the question. Mentally I'm slow and still not physically up to par. The wrong time for an illness, that's for sure. Some type of cold or flu but the markets don't care. I'll fight through it as best I can. Looking at some individual stocks that I'd like to hold for a few years but they too could be cheaper in '09 or '10. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

The song remains the same as the Dow lost another 508 points on good volume. Advance/declines were 6 to 1 negative. We are probably going to have a decent bounce here in the next 2 days. We are short term oversold. That doesn't mean we can't drop another 500 tomorrow. But a short covering rally at least should be in the cards. Gold was up $20 today but the XAU was 1 1/2 down and closed near the lows of the day. ABX was up 1/2, GG up 1 1/4 but NEM was down 1 3/4. NEM has been leading the way lately. Volume heavy as it has been. GG calls dead for the most part. GE was down a buck on crazy volume. Makes sense in a crazy time. Mentally I'm in a fog as I am ill. Got some kind of cold or flu last night and it has knocked me out. Not really what I need right now but that is the reality of the situation. Short post and I need some rest. Cash is still King.

OK. We are now in the most crazy market situation in quite some time. I'd say it's a once in a lifetime type thing but it was nuts in 1987 too. We closed down about 350 points on good volume. We were down almost 800 at one point. Advance/declines were around 15 to 1 negative again. How long we will go on like this? Who knows. It is a good time to be out of the markets unless you're short. Because there is no rhyme or reason as to what is going on. The technicals just are not working in scenarios like this one. Gold was up over $30 on the futures and the gold shares tanked. The XAU lost over 6 1/2 points and at one point was even about 10 points lower than that. ABX off 2, GG off 1 1/2 and NEM off 1. All on very heavy volume. GG calls=dead. Well not completely but they are blown out and less than 2 weeks to go. The Gold/XAU ratio that I talk about is setting new records every day now. Blown out. GE was off 1/2 on insane volume. Again, was much lower, under $20 at one point. Incredible. Mentally I feel OK, slept good enough. I don't know what else to say at this point really. Unprecedented times. Cash is King. Don't try to be a hero. Perhaps I'll listen to what I write here for a change.

OK, we finally got the bailout done. The market opened higher and closed lower for a one day negative reversal. The Dow was down 157 points on good volume. Advance/declines were negative. So now what? I certainly don't know. It is a volatile market and one that is unlike what we normally see. It isn't an easy trading environment. If I had any brain in my head, I would get flat and wait it out. Anything could happen. Gold lost another 10 bucks. The XAU gained a point after being much higher earlier. ABX and NEM had fractional gains after being much higher earlier. NEM was up over a buck. Volume was good. The GG calls are losers. However the Gold/XAU ratio is off the charts. That is the only thing keeping me in this trade at the moment. The buy signal is strong. So much so that I bought some more HL stock. Call me crazy but that's what I did. GE lost 60 cents on insanely heavy volume. Is GE going out of business? I sincerely doubt it. However is could be a sign of worse things to come. Mentally I'm tired and did not sleep as much as usual. It has been an intense week of market movement and it does take a toll. You begin to wonder if it's all worth it when it gets like this. There's always the sidelines I keep telling myself. I have the feeling that next week I'm going to listen. Perhaps. So on we go. What happens next week is anybodies guess. We sure didn't close on a positive note today. But it's all just a guess even more than usual at the moment. Yes, the weekend is upon us. A look at the charts. A time to regroup and come up with next weeks game plan. But most of all a time to rest considering the week that was.

It was back to the downside today as the Dow lost 348 points on good volume. Advance/declines were about 6 to 1 negative. Waiting on the bailout vote and who knows what happens after that? It is a crazy and volatile time. We are going back to test the lows I guess. But it is just that, a guess. Because these are some strange times indeed. Gold lost over $40 today and continue a touch lower in the aftermarket. The XAU was obliterated, down 20 yes 20 points in a day. ABX and GG both lost over $6 today. That's 20% of their value. Unheard of but there it is. NEM dropped 4 1/4. Volume was extremely heavy on the gold shares. Of course the GG calls are under water. However I bought some more. The Gold/XAU ratio is so out of whack that the buy signal is screaming. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do. So we'll see. I can't believe the drop in the gold shares today but it happened. I don't know what it means. The dollar was stronger today but it's been up more than this and the gold shares haven't fallen apart like today. Again, it is a crazy time in the markets. GE lost 2 1/3 and the volume was astronomical. I mean it was 10 days volume compressed into one day. If it is a forerunner of things to come then we are going to collapse again. The volatility is off the charts. Mentally I feel pretty good, slept well. I don't know what else I can say here to fully grasp the uniqueness of the situation. It's unprecedented really. I now think that I should just listen to myself and get on the sidelines for a while. There is nothing wrong with that. Cash is King. It's not impossible to trade this kind of market but it isn't necessary either. When nothing makes sense perhaps it makes sense to do nothing.

We spent the day bouncing around with the Dow closing down 20 points on average volume. Advance/declines were slightly negative. Waiting for the Senate bailout vote tonight. The market is hostage to the bailout problem and it's a different type of trading atmosphere. No OEX trades for now. Gold was up $6 in the futures market but has sold off pretty good since. ABX and GG were both slightly higher after being up much higher earlier. NEM had a slight loss. Volume was good. The action in the gold shares today was negative for sure. The GG calls are barely profitable. The dollar was higher today. However, I believe we are at or near resistance for the dollar at theses levels. So we'll see. GE lost over a buck on insane volume. GE is issuing more common stock, never a good sign for the stock price. Warren Buffet said he would be investing in GE at this point. So it too bounced around but closed lower. I'm staying away from it for now. Mentally I'm a bit tired again, did not sleep as good as I could. So we go on to tomorrow still uncertain of what exactly is going on here. The sidelines aren't a bad place to be. Anything could happen at this point. There really are no clear technical signals and the volatility is extreme. Still plenty of time in the October option cycle. So we'll see what happens. Employment report on Friday if anybody cares.

Up and down as the roller coaster ride continues. A 485 point snap back on the Dow today with good volume. Advance/declines were 4 to 1 positive. Now a deal is coming, supposedly. I'm sure one is, one way or another. What the market does is another issue. It's a tough trading environment to be sure. A lot of premium in the options and whipsaw moves. I'll have to wait on trying the OEX at this point. The risk is higher than usual at the moment. Gold was down $15 on the futures and continued to sell off in the aftermarket. The XAU lost 1 3/4. ABX and GG each lost a couple bucks on decent volume. NEM dropped 1/2. I bought some GG calls. Not completely oversold technically but I wanted to give it a go. I'm expecting the dollar to fall later this week when the employment report is released and the deal is done for the bailout. I could be wrong but that should support gold. The Gold/XAU ratio is still solidly in the buy zone. So we'll see. GE came back and was up around 2 3/4 on heavy volume. The options barely moved considering GE was up 10%. That is what is meant by an overload of premium in the options. If the underlying instrument moves 10% and the options barely move, that isn't the type of situation you want to get into. If and when things settle down, perhaps GE will be a viable play. Earnings out on October 10th there. Mentally I'm a bit tired, did not sleep well. So what happens next? We will get this bailout deal out of the way and then it's back to earnings and data as market movers. The summation index is back in the negative but it's not going to stay there too long in my opinion. So I would guess we go sideways to higher in the coming months. However longer term I suspect we are still in a bear market. But it's all just a guess in the game. And as recent events have shown, anything can happen.

So we are in melt down mode as the Dow lost a record 777 points on what must be extremely heavy volume. Advance/declines were 15 to 1 negative. They rejected the bailout plan in Washington today. So it's the panic of 2008. It's not as bad as 1987 when we were down 22% in one day. We would have to drop 2000 points in a day to equal that. Trust me, the world is not coming to an end. Some type of plan will be enacted and the market will rally back. I'm not saying the the overall trend isn't down for a while. It is. For a couple years maybe. But that doesn't mean it's going to be straight down. How can you profit off of what is happening now is the question. Gold was up $5 on the futures and another 20 after the futures closed. The XAU lost 5 1/4 though. ABX continues to amaze with its relative strength, up 1 1/2 on very heavy volume and was higher than that. GG was flat on heavy volume and NEM lost 1 1/2. Volume heavy there as well. I still like the gold shares and have an order in for some GG calls overnight. However as soon as a bailout deal is done, money will leave gold in a hurry. So it's a tricky play. I have an idea of what I want to do so we'll see what happens. GE lost $2 on heavy volume. Not the crazy volume that we saw last week and that may be telling. I'm looking at the calls there, going out to November. There will be some type of snap back rally in GE between now and then. Timing will be key, as usual. But I think there will be money to be made there. Mentally I'm feeling pretty good, slept well enough. These are interesting times, no doubt about that. However the idea is to make money, so that is what must be concentrated on. There is risk galore, don't deny that. As I've said before there is nothing wrong with waiting things out on the sidelines until we get back to normal. Cash is King. This is a tough trading environment to be sure. However there is also opportunity if you can take advantage of it. Tomorrow should be interesting.