MERQ Calls Jump; Stocks Slide

Stocks finished lower across the board Friday on the heels of earnings warnings from Microsoft.
Gold and silver was the day’s top sector while computer technology was
the weakest.

At the close, the VIX was up 2.34 to 30.61.

The OEX 680 calls ended down 26.30 to 9.20.

Among bigger movers on heavier-than-average volume:

Mercury Interactive
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rose 8 11/16 to 95 1/16 while the MERQ
December 90 calls soared 7 1/8 to 8 3/4 on more than five times the average
volume.

Millennium Pharmaceuticals
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also avoided the selloff, as it gained
7 3/8 to 67 1/2 while the MLNM December 65 calls rose 3 1/16 to 3 3/4 on
quadruple average volume.

Hit hard was tech leader EMC
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, which fell 6 1/2 to 68 1/8. The EMC
January 95 calls eased 1/4 to 1 1/8 on heavier-than-average volume.

Cisco
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fell 2 49/64 to 48 11/64 while the Cisco December 50 puts
gained 1 1/16 to 1 3/4 on more than 21,000 contracts.