EMC Puts Rise; Techs Falter

In Tuesday post-holiday trading, the Nasdaq has given up early gains and is
trading down 1.7% at its lows of the day while the Dow and S&P 500 hover at
breakeven. Oil services are the day’s top sector while forest and paper products
are the weakest.

At mid-day, the VIX has increased 1.07 to 32.59.

The OEX January 700 calls are down 1.50 to 13.80.

Among bigger movers on heavier-than-average volume:

Storage giant EMC
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is down 3 to 65 1/4 as big-cap tech faces renewed
selling. The EMC January 85 puts have gained 2 1/4 to 20 on more than 4000
contracts.

Select Internets have moved higher, among which include Yahoo
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, up
2 5/16 to 31 13/16. The Yahoo January 30 calls have gained 1 to 5 1/4 on more
than 3500 contracts.

Citibank
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is strong in the financial arena, adding 1 to 51 1/16. The
Citigroup March 50 puts have lost 1 1/2 to 3 1/8 on more than 2000 contracts.

Chip-maker IDTI
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has gained 1 13/16 to 33 7/8 while the IDTI
January 40 puts have fallen 3 7/8 to 8 on more than 3000 contracts.