Markets Continue Volatile Ride, Finish Higher (SPY, QQQQ, GLD, USO, TLT, UUP)

Stocks exploded out of the gates this morning after the long Fourth of July weekend, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average more than 170 points higher at one point. Those gains, however, were short lived as the blue-chip index declined throughout the session and briefly dipped into negative territory before popping in the last hour. Bipolar and volatile are two adjectives that sum up Tuesday's trading day, but the DJIA did break its 7-day losing streak. The Dow closed 57 points higher at 9,743.62. The index traded in a range of 9,659 and 9,858. The SPDR S&P 500 ETF

closed 0.65% higher at $102.86. Volume was not particularly heavy, and came in below the 3 month average in SPY. The PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF

, which tracks the Nasdaq 100, gained 0.31% to finish at $42.60. The heavily traded ETF has fallen 6.89% in 2010, and almost 13% in just the last 3 months. Gold continued its slide. COMEX gold futures are currently trading $14.90, or 1.23%, lower at $1,192.80. The massive SPDR Gold Trust ETF

lost 1.67% to close New York Stock Exchange trading at $116.51. Oil was largely unchanged on the session. NYMEX crude futures are currently trading at $72.16 per barrel. The United States Oil Fund ETF

added 0.3% and finished at $32.61. Treasury prices notched gains despite the move higher in stocks - a potentially ominous sign. The iShares Barclays 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF

jumped 0.82% to $101.62. The 52-week high in the TLT is within striking distance at $102.66. Continue to watch the bond-market in an attempt to better gauge the near-term direction for stocks. The 10-year Treasury note is currently yielding a ridiculously low 2.93%. The 2-year is at 0.62%. The U.S. Dollar moved lower on Tuesday. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish ETF

, which tracks the performance of the dollar versus a basket of foreign currencies, fell 0.33% to $24.49. The closely watched EUR/USD pair is trading at $1.2619.