Good Friday to you. The markets received some decent news again this morning confirming a slight improvement on the jobs front, but as we said yesterday, although the media continues to point to jobs as the catalyst for yesterday's rally, the reality is the markets don't really care about those numbers. First, it's not enough of an improvement to really provide a significant catalyst, and secondly, it's about the technicals right now. The charts were in a position to move stocks higher and they did. Today, the markets gapped slightly and have sold off since the open with most indexes trying to find an intraday base as I type. If you're of the camp that believes yesterday's rally could be the catalyst for further upside, now's not a bad time to jump in and pick up some call options on your favorite index ETF with this morning's recent pullback. I've included a daily chart of the ^NDX here for your review. I've drawn a trend line through the last few tops showing you the recent trend has been three steps backward, one step forward, so a break of the short-term trend line on this daily chart would do wonders for the bulls' argument. A break of this trend line to the upside could send the indexes higher toward a test of the 2777 level on the ^NDX, which we also we pointed out yesterday. Just keep in mind if the markets are going to find some sort of mid-term bottom around current levels, there needs to be a fair amount of volatility. This would suggest there's enough of an underlying fear and suspicion to actually move the indexes higher. That may not make much sense to novice traders and investors, but the truth is if things become too bullish right now, the indexes will likely spook investors a bit more before deciding enough is enough to the downside. I'm sure next week is going to be real interesting for the major indexes. Since we've said what we've had to say about the major indexes for the week now, let's shift the attention to another key issue before we let you go for the weekend, gold. The Midas Touch We published an edition earlier this year suggesting gold had seen its better days for a good while, and we actually caught quite a bit of flak from gold bugs giving us every fundamental reason why gold was going higher. Well, sorry gold bugs, gold still hasn't managed to achieve its 2011 highs and we're now in November. Although gold did have a nice summer rally, it fell far short from matching the new multi-year highs established across all of the major indexes. However, gold has fallen apart along with the rest of the markets ever since it found a lower high at the end of the summer. So, where to from here? First, let me say when we talk about issues like gold, housing, or darling stocks like Apple (AAPL), and our commentary isn't favorable for the bullish argument, we're not making an attempt to exercise "fear mongering," as one reader suggested the other day. We're just letting you know what we objectively think about the idea in question. Sorry if we don't like something, but that's just what makes a market. There's no value in telling you we love something when the truth is we don't. It's funny how investors can believe one newsletter's opinion can take the world's oldest currency or the biggest NASDAQ success in recent history, AAPL, into a downward spiral. Anyhow, I've included a weekly chart of the most popular index ETF for gold, the GLD's. In the best interest of keeping it real, the summer rally did do something for gold which could end up being a real positive. I've also got some pretty tangible numbers for you to work with if gold is an investing or trading vehicle for you. As you can see here, gold has made three different attempts to get back to its highs with the GLD's moving up toward the $176 level, only to fail. However, in the event gold does work its way back to that $176 level and breaks above it, you're likely going to see a tremendous of amount of short covering, which could take gold to new all-time highs. However, that remains to be seen, but does give you a breakout number to work with should gold find legs in the months ahead. For now, if you're looking to get long gold for a short-term trade, I think there could be a nice tradable rally to the upside around $162 and an even better risk/reward opportunity around $158. Currently, the GLD's are trading at $163. On a longer-term basis, should the GLD's gravitate toward their support levels, which sit around $147 on the GLD's, gold could very well end up trading in a range for quite some time between $147 and $176 on the GLD's. Should the GLD's break below that $147 level, that's likely not going to be pretty for the bullish argument, and most definitely not for the trading range argument. However, a purchase of the GLD's at $147 would be a great bet in anticipation of the range bound prospects for commodity. Lastly, should the GLD find a base around this $162 - $158 level and move to a retest of its October high, that's going to be very bullish, and the likelihood of a move higher would most definitely be in the cards. So there you have it. Very objective and very specific numbers for you to work with if you're a gold player. As for individual gold stocks, you should use the gold indexes and ETF's to plan your entries and exits depending on the numbers I've given you here. It's much easier to get long individual stocks within an industry or sector if the indexes representing those ideas are moving in the same direction. It's been a rough week for many Americans depending on where you live. Hurricane Sandy was devastating for many friends, colleagues and their families, so we thought we'd end the week on a fun note. Pigskin to Thoroughbreds While we're on the subject of fun speculation, the biggest weekend in American horse racing starts today here in our Southern California backyard at Santa Anita Racetrack, the Breeder's Cup. While most Americans would say the biggest weekend in racing is the Kentucky Derby, talk to any real horsemen and they'll clarify that statement by saying it's actually the Breeder's Cup. The two day event consists of eighteen races with purse money ranging from a half a million per race to tomorrow's last race of the day, a five million dollar purse for the best horses in the world competing to win the Breeder's Cup Classic. With that being said, I have to profess, I owned race horses for years and as far as I'm concerned, it's the greatest game in history for many reasons, and it's my passion. So here's a couple of picks if you're at a party, in a player pool or just want someone to root for. Today, the biggest race is race 9, the Lady's Classic, fitting they go first, right? It consists of the best fillies and mares in the world, three year olds and up. I like Awesome Feather. She's 10 for 10, which is unheard of, and she's lightly raced with a morning line of 3-1. Let's see if she can go 11 for 11 for young hot trainer, Chad Brown, the late Bobby Frankel's Assistant. Tomorrow, in the Breeder's Cup Classic, the best three year olds and up for the boys in race 12, I'm going to go way out on a limb and pick Handsome Mike at 30-1! We'll see if trainer, Doug O'Neill, can have a banner year by winning the two biggest races in the country, the Kentucky Derby, and the Breeder's Cup Classic. For the record, Game on Dude is likely the best selection, but at odds of 9-5, there doesn't figure to be much value there. Have a wonderful weekend and we'll see you on the other side.