Troubles in Italy took center stage as we remain in a headline driven market. The Dow fell 389 points on average volume. The advance/declines were 9 to 1 negative. I had thought we might continue to the upside but that was wrong. We are hostage to what happens overseas. Where we go from here is anybodies guess. The technicals will get thrown out the window. After a day like today you've got to figure that we're heading lower. Europe continues to be an ongoing problem and there really is no end in sight. It makes for very difficult trading for sure. The sidelines isn't a bad place to be but you don't make any money there. You also don't lose any either. GE was off 2/3 on good volume. I'm back to considering the January calls. We aren't really oversold here on a medium term basis, so I'm in no hurry. Gold fell $7 on the futures and another $20 in the aftermarket. The US dollar was very strong today as the euro plummeted. Gold held up pretty good early but then dropped. The XAU lost 7 1/4. ABX down 7/8, GG lower by 1 1/4 and NEM led the way falling 2 1/3. Volume was good to the downside, which isn't bullish. But I still might try the ABX calls for November again. The relative strength of the gold shares here is very good. The technicals are starting to roll over though. If the stock market heads lower here, it will take the gold shares with it. So this isn't going to be an easy trade to put on. Plus there are only 7 days left in the November option cycle. I'm also considering going out to the January contract as well. Mentally I'm feeling OK. Volatility really picked up today and that could be a sign of danger for the stock indices near term. Or some positive news comes out of Europe tomorrow and we rally 300 points. That is the problem trading right now. Anything can happen in rapid fashion. If you're on the right side of things it will turn out well. If you're not, you'll get wiped out. I might put in an overnight order for some ABX calls but I will have to study things tonight. I also may just sit things out. After the last ABX trade, I need to be careful not to project what happened there into the future. Not every trade is going to be a big winner. I'll check the charts and take it from there.

We bounced around today and then continued higher as the Dow gained 101 points on light volume. The advance/declines were 3 to 1 positive. We got some news out of Italy today that the market viewed as positive. So we continue to live in a headline driven trading world. Perhaps we can take out the recovery highs this week or before expiration. Summation index still heading higher. Getting short term overbought. GE was up an 1/8 on better volume. The daily chart looks constructive for more gains here but I'm not sure that I'll try something with 8 days left in the November option cycle. Maybe. Gold was up $8 on the futures as we crossed the $1800 level early in the day. But we sold off in the aftermarket after the Italy news. The US dollar lost ground too as the safe haven trade was taken off for a day. The XAU dropped 1 2/3. ABX off 3/4, GG fell 2/3 and NEM lost 1/2. Volume was average. I dumped the ABX calls during the session for a gain of 575%. I still like the gold shares but wanted to lock in a decent profit while in the overbought technical condition. I still may try these again before expiration, moving to a higher strike price. I'm also looking out to January here as well. We are overbought but in this type of market environment anything can happen. Mentally I'm feeling tired, did not sleep enough. The stock indices continue higher as it's possible that we will simply rally into the expiration. Or not. That is the problem here as the uncertain, headline driven marketplace moves forward. I don't have any trades in mind here at the moment. I do favor higher prices near term. The ABX trade is done. I had the biggest loss of the year in the previous trade followed by the biggest gain. That doesn't mean anything. It's on to the next idea as there are still 8 days left in the November option cycle. I usually don't do too well with the short term trades though. The weekly gold share charts are still looking like there's room to run on the upside. It's possible that I'll try the ABX calls again for November. We'll see what kind of news comes out overnight and take it from there.

Although we opened higher, we were lower for much of the day but made a comeback in the last 2 hours and closed on the high of the day. The Dow gained 85 points on light volume. The advance/declines were positive. Now Italy is the problem as the focus remains in Europe. It's a different country every day it seems like now. I think we could head higher off of todays close. We're not at high overbought levels on the technicals for the stock indices. Of course we are one bad headline from Europe away from a decline as well. It's a tricky trading environment. GE was flat on light volume. The technicals here mirror the overall market as well. No trades in the pipeline for GE right now. Gold had a good day on the European worries, up $35 on the futures and a bit more in the aftermarket. The XAU gained 6 1/3. ABX rose 1 3/8, GG up almost 2 and NEM broke out to new highs with a gain of 2 3/4. Volume was OK for the gold shares but I would have liked to see more. Very overbought here now. My ABX calls continue to gain ground but I can't hold on to them forever. ABX was the laggard today and that isn't a good sign. I might just bail out tomorrow. We'll see. Mentally I'm feeling OK, slept well. We're still being held hostage by Europe. It's the ongoing saga and there is no end in sight. Not a lot of economic data out this week. It will probably be a headline driven affair for the stock indices this week. Gold had a good day despite the US dollar being higher for much of the day. I'm not sure gold can just continue up in a straight line as we are approaching $1800. I will have to ponder what to do with the ABX calls tonight as I have held them for almost 3 weeks and they are considerably overbought. However NEM, which is usually the gold share leader, has just broken out to new highs. Is it possible that GG and ABX could follow? The weekly charts still point to higher prices. Tough call but I don't want to get too greedy and I don't want to miss out on the gains. The game is never easy.

We were lower all day today but pared some of the losses as the day wore on. The Dow closed down 61 points on light volume. We were down around 190 in the early going. The advance/declines were negative. The employment report was mixed, with better revision numbers but weaker job gains in October. The focus was on Greece once again as there is another vote of some sort to be held tonight. The markets are being held hostage by the headlines in Europe. That is the ongoing story. GE fell 1/4 on light volume. No trades here for now. Gold was weaker today as the US dollar gained on the Europe story. The gold futures fell $8. The XAU dropped 2/3 but was much lower early as well, following the overall stock market. ABX down 2/3, GG off 1/4 and NEM was flat. Volume was light here. That is what you'd like to see if you're looking for higher prices. My ABX calls lost some ground today. I really need to exit this trade next week. That is what I should do, if we get any strength. Overbought on ABX and staying there but that won't last. The weekly charts still look positive but there are only 2 weeks left in the November option cycle. Mentally I'm feeling OK, slept good. It was a down week for the stock indices but there is nothing in my mind to think that this is the beginning of some type of extended down trend. The summation index is still heading higher. The markets are waiting for some type of resolution on Greece and the European debt situation. This is a story that just keeps dragging on. It is really anybodies guess as to how that all plays out. As for the ABX trade, it's still showing a decent profit. I'll probably dump them next week. I'll be checking the charts and the headlines over the weekend. I expect the volatility will continue for the time being. It's Friday afternoon and time for a break.

We continued higher today as the Dow gained 208 points on average volume. The advance/declines were 4 to 1 positive. Still dealing with the daily drama from Greece. The market moves up and down according to that news for now. We do have the employment report out tomorrow but unless it's something out of the ordinary, it won't mean much. That's my opinion. It's still a European headline moving market. We are moving off of the early week short term oversold condition. GE was up 3/8 on average volume. Just biding my time here as there is no imminent trade yet in my mind. I could be wrong. Gold had a good day, up $35 on the futures as the US dollar was lower. Gold is also getting some of the flight to safety money I believe. The XAU rose 5 7/8. ABX up 1 1/2, GG gained 1 1/4 and NEM led the way higher by 2 3/4. Volume was average. My ABX calls are back to being solidly in the black. Short term overbought and staying there for ABX. The weekly charts still look constructive though. There's still 2 weeks left in the November option cycle. I don't want to get too greedy though. Mentally I'm feeling OK, slept well enough. It's been a volatile week so far for the stock indices. Anything can and will happen in this type of environment. I don't have any OEX trades in mind right now as I'm focusing on ABX. I am going to try and time the exit properly but we all know how that goes. ABX has almost had a straight line up move in the past 2 weeks and that won't last forever. We'll see what happens tomorrow. There is still plenty of time left in this trade but I don't think I'll be holding it until the last day of the option cycle. I do have a target in mind but it is more technically related than price related. We'll see.

A bounce in the Dow after the last two negative sessions as we ended the day with a gain of 178 points on light volume. The advance/declines were 5 to 1 positive. The Fed spoke, people listened and we got on with it. I didn't like the fact that the volume was light today. However we are moving to a short term oversold condition on the stock indices and that may provide some relief for the bulls. Or not. Next up is the employment report on Friday. That doesn't mean that we aren't wary of anything coming out or Europe. That's the wild card here. GE was up 1/4 and the volume was light here as well. The technical condition of GE is a mirror of the overall market. No trades here for now. Gold was up about $25 on the futures as the US dollar fell a buck today. The XAU rose 4 1/2. ABX up 1 1/4, GG higher by 1 2/3 and NEM gained a buck. Volume was average here. My ABX calls are still in the black. I am thinking about getting rid of them soon but the technicals are not yet as overbought as I would like. That said, getting a profit out of this trade is imperative. Mentally I'm a bit tired, did not sleep well. Todays market action looked like nothing more than an oversold bounce but I could be wrong. The markets are waiting for some news from Greece. That will be the key for the near term direction. The problem there is that you just don't know what's going to happen. It's hard to trade off of that. But that is the market reality we're in at the moment. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

The Dow continued lower today with a vengeance as we lost 297 points on good volume. The advance/declines were around 7 to 1 negative. The troubles in Europe returned today and it looks like that story just won't die. I did not expect a big decline here and I was wrong. No telling exactly what may happen now. The markets are being held hostage by Greece. It sounds stupid but that is the story for now. Moving to oversold very quickly but there is still room to go lower if the market wants to. We have moved back down into the previous congestion zone. I suppose anything can happen at this point. GE opened gap down and lost 2/3 on increasing volume. Maybe I will get a chance for the January calls after all. However at this time, in this market environment, it would be better to let things shake out first. It is getting a little crazy. Gold sold off early and then made somewhat of a comeback. The futures were only off 5 bucks after being much lower. The US dollar had another huge up day in the flight to safety. The XAU was off 2 points and bounced around all day. ABX lost an 1/8, GG rose an 1/8 and NEM fell 1 1/4. These issues also bounced around after opening much lower. Volume was average. My ABX calls a started the day in the red but made a comeback and are back in the black for now. The volatility is enormous at the moment. That will keep the option premiums higher than usual. I'm holding on to the ABX calls for now but could exit at any time. Mentally I'm a bit tired, did not sleep well. We have the Fed tomorrow and the employment report on Friday and it seems like that doesn't even matter. It is a headline and event driven marketplace once again. It makes for tougher than usual trading. It also presents opportunities if you are astute enough to find them. The weekly ABX charts still look good to the upside to me but that could evaporate at any time. It is that type of situation that we find ourselves in. We'll see what happens in Europe overnight and go from there. It will be interesting.