Juniper Calls Rise; Stocks Sink

Stocks are sharply lower across the board Wednesday as blue chips have
dragged the Dow back below 10,000. Japanese stocks are the day’s weakest sector
while banks are the weakest.

At mid-day, the VIX is up 3.20 to 33.93.

Among bigger movers on heavier-than-average volume:

Juniper
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is up 1 55/64 to 60 31/64 while the Juniper March 55
calls are up 3/4 to 6 on heavier-than-average volume.

WorldCom
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is avoiding the tech swoon and is up 1 1/2 to 16 11/16
after favorable analyst comments. The WCOM March 15 puts are down 3/8 to 1/4 on
more than 27,000 contracts.

Mercury Interactive
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is up 9/16 to 42 1/2 while the MERQ March 40
calls are up 1 to 4 1/2 on heavier-than-average volume.

Krispy Kreme
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is down 2 1/16 to 71 1/8 while the KREM March 75
puts have added 1 to 4 1/2 on more than 500 contracts.