Dell Puts Soar; Stocks Sag
Stocks sank Monday, with the Nasdaq shedding 2.7% amid concerns over slowing
PC sales and nervousness ahead of Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan’s testimonial
before the House Banking Committee on Tuesday.
By the close, the VIX had increased 1.05 to 22.44.
The OEX July 810 calls lost 2 1/4 to 12.
Among bigger movers on heavier-than-average volume:
Dell Computer
(
DELL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) added to early losses and closed down 5 15/16 to 46
7/16. The Dell August 50 puts gained 3 to 4 1/2 on more than 8400 contracts.
Corning
(
GLW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) plunged 33 1/4 to 250 amid concerns over its proposed
alliance with or acquisition of Nortel Networks
(
NT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating). The GLW August
230 puts soared 6 7/16 to 8 1/2 on five times the average volume.
Merck
(
MRK |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) rose 5 27/32 to 69 19/32 to lead both the Dow and the drug
sector. The Merck August 65 calls ended up 3 7/16 to 5 5/8 on triple the average
volume.
In the Internet space, Amazon
(
AMZN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) fell 2 3/8 to 38 3/4 to lead the
sector lower, while the Amazon August 35 puts jumped 1 1/16 to 2 5/8 on more
than 10,000 contracts.