Exxon Mobil Calls Rise; Stocks Slide

Despite an extremely inflation-tame August CPI report, stocks have drifted
lower Friday, with the Nasdaq sinking 1.2% and the Dow edging down 0.3%. Oils
and oil services are the top sectors of the day while broker/dealers and forest
and paper products are the weakest.

At mid-day, the VIX has increased .14 to 20.83.

The OEX September 80 calls have fallen 2 7/16 to 7/16.

Among bigger movers on heavier-than-average volume:

Exxon Mobil
(
XOM |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
has jumped 3 23/64 to 88 5/8 to help pace the oil
sector. The Exxon Mobil September 85 calls have gained 2 7/8 to 3 5/8 on more
than 1200 contracts.

Oracle
(
ORCL |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
has fallen 4 1/4 to 80 11/16 despite topping earnings
estimates by a substantial margin. The Oracle September 80 calls are down 4 5/8
to 1 3/8 on less than 18,000 contracts.

Terayon
(
TERN |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is avoiding the tech swoon and is up 4 11/16 to 47 3/16.
The Terayon September 45 calls are up 2 13/16 to 3 3/8 on triple average volume.

Sun Microsystems
(
SUNW |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
is off 3 to 114 1/2 while the Sun October 130
calls have slipped 1 1/8 to 2 1/2 on more than 5000 contracts.