Congrats if you acted on our suggestion to purchase call options on your favorite index ETF yesterday, regardless whether you purchased this month's call options or a few months out, you should be nicely in the money today with potentially more profits to look forward to. Although we are still subject to some volatility, it appears our target of 2638 - 2661 on the NDX is still very much on the table. Advertisement 20 Best Stocks For the Next 12 Months This market is creating many amazing profit opportunities for investors who understand the powerful economic forces at work. Louis Navellier's new report, 20 Best Stocks for the Next 12 Months gives you a rare sneak preview of the very best trend-riding companies that you should immediately purchase. Get your free report today. Advertisement We mentioned yesterday the break above 2577 on the NDX opened the door for some clarity with this market on a short-term basis at the very least. Until we get to that target level above, it appears fairly clear sailing from here to there. However, nothing in the market is typically ever that easy, so it's prudent you don't try and scalp too much in one trade. Why? On a short-term basis, this market has taken on a Jekyll and Hyde type persona meaning it roars one day and pulls back the next, or even reverses direction in the same day. With that being said, I still believe the undercurrent for this market right now is to move higher for the short-term, so call option purchases is the better play until we reach our target level. More specifically, buy the dips and sell into the rips until we get to that 2638 - 2661 level. That's where we should run into some resistance and remember, nothing typically goes up in a straight line. Like we said yesterday, if you want to avoid the volatility, then pick up options that are two, three or even four months out. Although your profits will be slightly more modest than short-term options, you should still make excellent returns for the time frame you're holding them. If you're not an options player, you can always purchase the QQQ's, SPY's or DIA's on a straight stock play but you won't get the leverage you do with options. However, it's still a way to allocate a portion of your portfolio outside of small caps that will help you beat the DOW or S&P's average returns for the year, which is what self-directed investing is all about, right? It's all about balanced diversification and if you can beat the averages consistently year-over-year, then why do you need an advisor? Advisors, from my experience, typically don't have your best interest in mind. Just my two cents for what it's worth. If you're willing to do a little homework and use good sound judgment, you should be one of the 20% of the people in the market that makes 80% of the money. It's also important to remember, we provide you with a pretty darn good workable road map for the major indexes, as well as small stocks. However, it's virtually impossible to peg exact numbers every time, so you've got to make sure you stay on top of our newsletter every day. Things in the market can change very quickly and you'll want to be the first to know. If you know anybody else out there who publishes a free newsletter that provides you with better market calls than we do, I sure would like to read them. Defining Short-Term, Mid-Term and Long Term The overall landscape of the markets on a short-term basis right now is an excellent environment to seek out nice risk/reward opportunities, but because of the mid-term outlook being a little more murky, it's important to take profits when they're staring you in the face. Why? I've included a daily chart above of the NDX to help explain. Since the June 4th bottom of 2444 on the NDX, the market has zigged and zagged, but the bottom line is it appears to be headed for that 2638 - 2661 level after the breakout above 2577 yesterday. So, short-term strength yes, mid-term follow through has yet to be determined because once we get to that 2638 - 2661, we run into resistance. I've also included a weekly chart here of the NDX showing you that 2638 - 2661 is a logical level for this market to potentially want to move back lower. The chart also shows you we're still in a bit of a bearish trend. Additionally, until we break above 2796 on the NDX, anything in between leaves the door open for further downside risk until proven otherwise. On a long-term basis, I'm pretty certain that when we look back at this market a few years from now, you're going to wish you had put some money to work because when looking at the monthly charts, we're still in a bullish trend. Therefore, hourly and daily charts are our way of dissecting the short-term, weekly charts the mid-term and monthly charts for the long-term. It's that simple. So, if you are willing to accept the fact that depending on the time-frame, this market can be in a number of various trends, you will have much more knowledge of what to do and when, as long as you completely understand what your goals and objectives are for each trade or investment you make. Hope that helps... see you tomorrow and we hope you have a great rest of the day.