Goldman Sachs Calls Rise; Stocks Edge Higher

Stocks posted modest gains Friday following an inflation-tame July jobs
report. Banks and broker/dealers were the day’s top sectors, and semiconductors
and drugs are the weakest.

At the close, the VIX had declined 1.21 to 21.58.

The OEX August 800 calls finished up 1/2 to 9 1/2.

Among bigger movers on heavier-than-average volume:

Goldman Sachs
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jumped 5 7/8 to 111 1/2 to help power the surging
broker/dealer group. The Goldman Sachs August 115 calls rose 2 1/16 to 2 5/8 on
ten times the average volume.

In the banking group, U.S. Bancorp
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rose 1 7/8 to 21 5/16 while the USB
September 22 1/2 calls added 1 5/16 to 1 5/8 on more than 5000 contracts.

Data networker Emulex
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added to early gains and finished up 20 3/8
to 67 15/16 after announcing strong fourth quarter earnings. The EMLX August 70
calls rose 3 3/4 to 4 1/4 on more than 1000 contracts.

Oracle
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rose 4 1/8 to 81 9/16 while the Oracle August 80 calls
added 1 11/16 to 4 1/8 on more than 7000 contracts.

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