The Dow lost 34 points on lighter volume. Advance/declines were even. I think we are still going higher. End of the month today. And we should get some money flows for the next couple of days. After that, who knows. Gold didn't do much and the XAU sold off and came back. ABX remains strong and it doesn't look like I can do anything before the earnings after the close on Wednesday. Looks like I missed it but you never know. It's also riskier than usual at this point because the technicals are all overbought. We'll see. Nothing else on the horizon for now. I need to get back into the swing of things. Mentally the work and concentration needs to be stepped up. I'll try. Summer is still in full bloom and I need to get it together now. Trading is a demanding task and nothing less than your full attention will suffice...

Is the trend up? The Dow tacked on another 120 points today on good volume. Advance/declines were 4 to 1 positive. How far can we go? Who knows? Summation index higher and you can't fight that. I will be waiting for the Fed meeting in August and hope to get short before it. I think that will be the surprise and the play for August. Gold didn't do much today and the XAU roared back another 4 points. ABX was up almost a buck and it doesn't look like I'll get a play in there but we'll see. Earnings for ABX are after the bell on Wednesday. The options are expensive. The volume is on the upside for sure there now so it looks like it could work. I hate to chase it though. However I saw the exact same thing happen during the last earnings cycle. NEM came out with good earnings and sold off just like this time. And then when ABX came out with its earnings it rose a couple points regardless of NEM. The relative strength is with ABX. I'd like to give it a shot if I get a chance. Otherwise not much else to say. It's the weekend and summertime so I'll enjoy it while I can. I'll check the charts over the weekend and take it from there...

The Dow lost 2 points today on good volume. Advance/declines were negative. The overall market was much weaker than the Dow. GDP report tomorrow. No trades in the OEX for now. I'm still trying to get a handle on things. Gold was up over $10 today. However the XAU was down over 4 points and the volume picked up in the gold shares. Interesting. I would still like to get long some gold stocks but now I'm not so sure. NEM came out with great earnings and sold off over 2 bucks. ABX announces on Wednesday. I still might buy some calls there. But it's a tough call. Summation index still higher so I will lean towards the bullish camp. I'm trying to get back into the groove. I need to step up my readings and get motivated. Mentally feeling good still from the vacation but I need to concentrate on what needs to be done. It's hard to get the feel after being gone for a while but time will cure that. I also need to switch brokerages for my longer term trades because TD Ameritrade is just too cheap with the interest rates as the money is parked. That is something I will try to get done in the next couple of weeks. Otherwise I suppose I'll let this week pass and get ready to trade next week...

The Dow lost a point on good volume. Advance/declines were positive. We were up, we were down and ended even. The volume has been surprisingly good. The trend is up and the summation index is pointing higher. Gold gained a few bucks and the XAU was up a couple points. I'm waiting for a pause or a pullback here but I think I missed it. I will perhaps be able to get in within a week or so. I'd like to own some ABX calls before the earnings next week. But the technicals are already overbought. We'll see what happens. The options still are pretty expensive. And I'm a bit rusty from the vacation but then again what else is new? Mentally I need to get with it because the market waits for no one. It seems the thought is that the economy is slowing and that could help gold with a weaker dollar. Of course the opposite could be true too. GDP for the 2nd quarter comes out on Friday. Might be a mover...

The Dow rose another 52 points today on good volume again. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 positive. This is the first time in quite a while we have actually seen some follow-thru on a rally. I think we are in a summer rally. August calls will be the play perhaps. Gold was up around 5 bucks and the XAU rose over 3 points. I would like to get some calls here but I may have missed it. NEM has its earnings out on Thursday and ABX reports next Wednesday. I hate to chase things but this could be one of those times where it pays off. Or not. I think we are in a bullish market mode. I don't know the reason. The trouble with gold is that when the Israel vs. Lebanon crisis has a cease-fire, the price of bullion should drop. I might wait for that. Gold is also showing strength in the face of a rising dollar and that doesn't make any sense. So it just doesn't get any easier. I'll wait it out here for a while though because we are in the first week of the option cycle. Mentally, all is well and I'm looking forward to making some money here shortly. Gotta be ready to act though. Hopefully the market will set up now for the fall in the fall...

The Dow soared 180 points on pretty good volume for a summer Monday. Advance/declines were 4 to 1 positive. I'm not so sure this is the start of something big but who knows? I think it's more of a reaction to the expiration on Friday. Sometimes on the following Monday the market does the exact opposite of Fridays action. Gold was down $7 but the XAU gained over 2 points. I would like to get long some gold shares as my next trade. I'm looking at ABX and NEM. The technicals are oversold, longer term. I'll be looking for a pullback from todays movement and may put on a trade if that happens. I'll have to check some longer term charts just to make sure. Just starting to get back into market mode. Mentally I feel fine and am waiting for the next set-up. The vacation seems to have done me good. But we all know the real test is the trading itself. I'll need to get some ideas about the markets future. And go from there...

Well, it's been a while. My vacation is now over. The Dow lost 60 points today on good volume. Advance/declines were around 2 to 1 negative. It was an expiration Friday. The market lost ground while I was away. I think it will lose some more before it is all said and done. The Middle East blew up while I was away also. Israel is about to invade Lebanon. Market factors to be sure. I will now have to get back into market mode. The routine must return. It is. Gold lost over 10 bucks today. It generally trended higher while I was gone but has fallen recently. The dollar has pretty much gone sideways since I left. The summation index turned around and was heading higher for most of my vacation. It recently turned down. I don't know where we are going nearterm from here. The Fed meets in August and that should be a market mover. I have updated all my charts since I've been gone and am ready to trade, I think. I have some ideas but there is more catching up for me to do and I am not going to rush into anything. My mind needs to return to the routine of following the markets every day. That might take a week or so. Plus it is summer and we should see the doldrums at any time. The market will get lethargic and not really do much of anything before it gets ready to make its next big move. It is already the weekend and I'm going to relax. I'll do some catch-up work but for the most part, I'm ready to go...

The Dow gained 80 points on holiday light volume. Advance/declines were 3 to 1 positive. Gold was up $10 in the world markets and the XAU rose over 5 points. The volume was surprisingly good and I have missed this move. It isn't a good feeling. I have started my vacation and leave my home tomorrow for 2 weeks. There will probably not be any postings until I return. I am going to try and forget about the markets for a while and then come back fresh and ready to go at it. There is much work to do when I return. But for now I'm going to try and enjoy the summer for a bit...

The Dow lost 40 points today and the volume was pretty good. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 positive. Most of the action came in the last hour due to the end of the quarter moves. Overall the market seems stronger now and the summation index is pointing upwards. So higher prices are probably on the way. How high, I don't know. Gold took off today, up over $27. Probably due to the weaker dollar and perhaps because of some Osama noise. The XAU rose over 2 points as it had most of its gains yesterday. Volume wasn't like it was before but it is the summer and money seems to be heading back into gold. I'll have to keep an eye on it when I return from vacation. A long weekend is coming up and a Monday session before the July 4th holiday. The markets really won't get back going until next Wednesday. By then, I'll be on vacation for 2 weeks. I will try to just stay away from the day to day market happenings and enjoy myself. I really think that is what's needed. There is nothing I can do about the first half of this year. It wasn't pretty. I made numerous mistakes and had some pretty big losing trades. It seems like I always did the wrong thing at the wrong time. I did a couple things right. But my trade win % sucked. I really need to come back strong in the second half. I have before, so it's not out of the question. But I can't continue the way things have been going. I really need to step it up and make the right decisions. Trading isn't easy and I really make it hard sometimes on myself with bonehead moves. I'll work on it. For the first half of the year my trading account was up 22%. It should have been a lot higher. But there will be no looking back now and I'll look forward to a successful second half.

The Dow soared 217 points on heavy volume. Advance/declines were 5 to 1 positive. The Fed raised rates another quarter point and now everybody thinks that's it. It is the beginning of the summer rally and end of quarter shenanigans. The summation index will now be pointing upwards and signaling higher prices. Gold was up over 7 dollars and the XAU climbed over 9 points. I missed it. I knew it would happen and I did not take advantage of it. The weeklies were all back in the buy zone and I just sat here. I stopped paying attention and trading because I have a vacation next week. I shut it down and went on stand-by mode when I should have been paying attention. I could have went out an extra month but was too stupid to think of it. I hate missing opportunities. There is no sense in doing all of the work if you're not going to take advantage of what's there. It is frustrating. It happens a few times a year and it does me no good. You have got to take chances in the game. You pick your spots where the odds are in your favor. This, I did not do. So now I can leave for New York and think about what an idiot I am. But I will probably just try and forget about it. Lamenting on it does me no good. It would have been a good trade had I been good enough. But that just wasn't the case. We will see the opposite of todays action at another time later this year when the Fed raises rates and the market tanks. I guess I'll have to wait for that. This is the toughest game in the world...

The Dow was up about 50 points. Advance/declines were positive and the volume was light. Had a good run in the last couple of hours. The overall market was stronger than the Dow. Fed tomorrow and I think we are heading higher regardless of what the Fed says or does. Just my guess on the markets Fed reaction. Gold was down 3 dollars and the XAU was unchanged. Volume nothing much there either as we are really in the summer mode. There will be trades but they won't be as plentiful as in the autumn is my guess. I'm leaving on vacation in less than a week. After the announcement tomorrow, I believe the markets will really slow down. Holiday weekend and such. Mentally I'm in stand-by mode. Physically, I'm exhausted from playing too much golf in the heat yesterday. Awaiting the Fed...

The Dow lost 120 points today on OK volume. Advance/declines were over 2 to 1 negative. Volume picked up a bit to the downside. Don't know what to make of it. Still waiting on the Fed and then a long weekend. Tuesday is a holiday so Monday will be a non-event. Gold was down over 3 bucks and the XAU lost over 3 points. Volume picked up a bit here on the downside also. No trades in sight. Looks like I'll be waiting for the August cycle unless something just stands out over my vacation. But I doubt it. Mentally I'm doing fine, preparing for some time off. Playing golf this afternoon and it is humid so I will be preparing for the east coast conditions. Otherwise, the trend seems to remain down for stocks. Perhaps the Fed can change that on Thursday. Technically, we're not at overbought or oversold extremes. Summation index still pointing down and in negative territory. Time to sit it out for a while, I guess.

The Dow gained 56 points today on light volume. Advance/declines were positive. Seemed like a slow day with a rally near the close. No trades. Gold was unchanged but the XAU gained a point and a half. Volume light there also. Just a summer Monday I guess. Fed announcement on Thursday, so I suppose it's just a waiting game. I be leaving on vacation in a week so I'm really just hanging around. Not doing all the work necessary, just the essentials. Mentally I'm looking forward to a nice break but as I've said before my brain is already in stand-by mode. Not much else to say...

The Dow lost 30 points today on light volume. Advance/declines were about even. Not much to write about that. We were higher earlier in the day. Gold was up a couple bucks and the XAU was up a couple points. I'm hoping I haven't missed the next upmove in gold here. Time will tell. The volume is weak but the sellers seem to have disappeared. The overall stock market acted better than the Dow today. Summation index still pointing down. Fed meeting next week and the market could feed off of that or it could just be a non-event. The weekend is here, summer is here and I'm almost ready to go on vacation. This is a rare time for me. But the break is needed in light of the terrible trades of May and June. Not much else to say. Kind of in standby mode as I've said before. Summertime...

The Dow lost 60 points today. Advance/declines were about 2 to 1 negative and the volume was light. Leading indicators were weak. Summation index still pointing down. Gold lost about 5 bucks and the XAU was down a point. Not a lot of volume there. Perhaps the summer doldrums are upon us. Tomorrows volume could tell that story. No trades in the offing and not much else to report here. I am getting very lazy and summer for me has begun. I've already said all that has to be said for now so that's it from here...

The Dow rose 104 points on good volume. Advance/declines were 3 to 1 positive. So maybe a good summer rally will begin. I still don't think the summation index has turned positive but another day like today and it will. It seems to be a lack of sellers lately. Gold was up 8 bucks again and the XAU rose over 5 points. The volume wasn't all that great here but perhaps I need to adjust my volume expectations for gold. Just a thought. We have broken the downtrend line in the XAU. I suppose I could look to get long on a snapback to that line. Gold itself is at $590. I'd like to see it build a base but perhaps it won't. Time will tell. Mentally I'm in standby mode still. Same scenario with a vacation coming up and an extra week on the option cycle. So let the summer begin. I'll try not to take on any trades for now and see what happens. Fed meeting next week and I suppose that will set the tone for the week. Otherwise, I'm just gonna take it easy.

The Dow gained 32 points today on slightly better volume. Advance/declines were negative. The overall markets were weaker. No conviction here. I have no trades. Gold was up around 8 bucks and the XAU rose around 3 points. The volume wasn't that good. I'm looking for lower prices. Not much else to say. Extra week in this option cycle. Mentally I'm in standby mode until after I take this vacation. So really I'm just hanging out. Still watching the markets everyday and doing the work. But there most likely will not be any trades until I return. It will really be a summer of relaxation. And who knows? Perhaps the rest will do me good.

The Dow lost 72 points today on light volume. Advance/declines were about 3 to 1 negative. I would expect the advance/decline line to pick up here a bit. The summation index is pointing down and it can't stay that way forever. I'm not saying it will be a rip-roaring advance but we need to turn things around here. I have no trades in mind as my vacation looms. Gold was down over 9 dollars today and the XAU lost over 3 points. No trades there either as I will let a base develop if it can. I'm in kind of a standby mode with the vacation and all. Mentally I'm keeping an eye on things but there may not be any trades until August and maybe even not then. I need both the overall market and the gold market to stabilize here and set things up for when I get back. However the markets rarely accommodate you. And so it goes.

The Dow was unchanged today. Advance/declines were almost 2 to 1 negative and the volume was heavy. The overall market was down. Option expiration. There isn't much news coming out next week. I'd expect it to be slow. Let the summer doldrums begin. The Fed doesn't meet for another 10 days and even that may not move things. Gold was up over $10 today but the XAU fell over a point. Not a lot of correlation here lately. I'll be looking to get long the gold shares here at some point. Mentally I'm looking forward to taking a break. I haven't taken a vacation since 2002. Not to mention my trading has sucked the past 2 months and I need to get away. It's the weekend and it's the beginning of summer. If I'm smart, the trading will take a back seat for a while and I'll regroup. I will try and look out for autumn and plan my strategy for then. Sometimes doing nothing is the right thing.

The Dow was up 198 points on heavy volume. Advance/declines were over 4 to 1 positive. It was the bounce I was waiting for and I did not take advantage of it. The profits would have been huge. But it ends up being just another missed opportunity. Boy how I hate those. It really bothers me, even more so than losing money. The first time the technicals called for it, it didn't happen. Not the second. I lost some money and headed for the sidelines. I was wrong to do so. You gotta believe in yourself. I failed again. Gold was up over $10 at one point today. The XAU ended up over 6 points. I sat on the sidelines. If and when the XAU gets back down to 120, I'm getting some calls even if I'm on vacation. Trading can be very frustrating sometimes. This is one of those times. The rewards are great but I haven't had any in so long that I forgot what that was like. I've got to be more disciplined and motivated. What can I say? I'm going on vacation in a couple of weeks. I really don't need one but it was planned some time ago. I'll refresh and rededicate myself when I return. I'm thinking this will be a slow summer, but who knows? We haven't gotten back to the downtrend line that started in May, even with a 200 point gain today. So it's back to the drawing board and time to relax at the same time. The posts here will probably get shorter for a while.