Good morning, everyone. Day 2 in Vegas, and I am determined to get completely caught up in my work (hence the drawn curtains and determined stare). I think I've created a monster with the comments section; it's become a multi-hundred entry a day festival of discussion. That's a great thing, but when the hit count on a Sunday approaches that of a strong weekday, I have to wonder.

Time to look at charts. I'll definitely be doing a post or two during the course of the day.

Greetings from Las Vegas, Nevada – – specifically, the Bellagio Hotel, where I'll be spending the next three days speaking, mixing, and mingling.

I think someone forgot to tell the Bellagio that Las Vegas is having a slump. This place is a zoo, and the check-in procedure takes way longer than checking in at an airport. Here's a snapshot of the zoo in progress, and I've circled none other than Tom Sosnoff, off the in the distance, enjoying himself as much as I was.

Those who have read my blog for a while know I have this hang-up about authenticity, which is why – – sorry, America! – – I hate this town. Everything about it is fake. The buildings are fake (Eiffel Tower, Chrysler Building, etc.) The collagen-bloated lips are fake. The tits are fake. The smiles are fake. It's like a bull's paradise.

The most pathetic thing I have seen so far (and I've only been here a few minutes, so I'm sure there will be ample other opportunities) was this woman who had the whole schmear done to herself – – – thick, permanent eyeliner; dolled-up blonde hair; a skimpy bathing suit; huge, obviously fake breasts. And I'd say she was probably around 65 or so. ("The goggles! They do nothing!")

There's just no dignity here. Until now. Step aside, Vegas! Slope is in town! Now where's my Pinot?

Greetings from the San Francisco Marriott, where the Money Show is taking place. I'm way in the back of the room, waiting to go on stage for a couple of hours to throw charts at Tom Sosnoff. On the way down, a couple of gents recognized me and wanted to say they read my blog. One of them was very friendly and cordial. The other mentioned how he learned from "the mistakes people who write blogs make". Glad to help! 😐

Anyway, today was obviously a really rotten end to an otherwise really cool week. As my prior post stated, it's getting really frustrating dealing with a market that lurches – alternately – up and down. On the whole, it goes nowhere. This is like the third or fourth week that I basically haven't budged in terms of portfolio value, in spite of huge swings up and down. That's a hell of a lot of work to be standing still.

A person actively trading can either (a) take profits daily or (b) play for a trend and work toward much, much bigger profits. I've been focusing on (b), and it's been a dud. Doing (a) is fraught with risk and missed opportunities, but lately, it's been the way to go. I don't get my jollies out of spinning my financial wheels. Although I guess treading water is better than losing money.

Looking closely at $XBD, we need to watch that 165 level closely. Breaking the descending trendline would be bad news, bears.

The DIA was very disturbing; it had huge volume, the biggest upmove in weeks (if not months), and a clean pierce above the resistance line. Not good. Super-firm resistance isn't in place until 122.

The IWM is also very disturbing. We're above the Fibonacci and also at risk for cutting above that descending trendline. Next week puts us very "at risk".

I've drawn a horizontal line on the NASDAQ to suggest one possible demarcation, but let's face it, there's not much holding the market back from pushing above this level. A rally to S&P 1320 might be a cinch for the bulls at this point. It's only 20 points away.

Oil has been amazing week the past 30 days. I think the bull's back is broken on this, but I also think we're due for a meaningful bounce higher next week before the downtrend resumes.

At this point, I'm sitting on a train with a bunch of rowdy baseball fans (it's a long story………..but I was speaking in San Francisco with Tom Sosnoff), so I'm going to end it here. I'm probably going to have a chunk of time in Las Vegas to put together something lengthier, but if not, please understand! I've got a big three-day show I'm doing with thinkorswim, and I'm speaking on four separate occasions, so I'll be pretty tied up. Today was rough, but try to have a good weekend! And to those of you going to Vegas, I'll see you there soon……

At the risk of sounding insufferably whiney, I'm getting really sick of this market.

Up 300. Down 300. Up 200. Down 200. Trend up. Trend down. Spike up. Spike down.

It is virtually impossible for anyone, bulls or bears, to make any profits in this kind of environment unless they are the most adept day trader on the planet!

As I said in the comments section, I feel I should be indicted for money laundering, since the same truckload of cash has gone in and out of my account. One day, huge profits. Next day, they leave the door. Next day, they come back in. Next day, they exit again.

Can we have a trend, please? Even for just a week? Please?

I have an ungodly full agenda for, errr, the next 14 days. I won't do any kind of post until Saturday, at the earliest. I'm heading up to the SF Money Show now. Look for me. I'll be the one with the steam coming out of my ears.

I'm buying NDX puts at these levels.