Nortel Puts Rise; Stocks Finish Mixed

Stocks finished mixed Tuesday, with the Dow higher, the Nasdaq lower and the
S&P 500 basically flat. Chemicals and forest and paper products were the
day’s top sectors while oil services and semiconductors were the weakest.

At the close, the VIX had decreased .15 to 26.83.

The OEX November 740 calls ended down 1/4 to 17 1/4.

Among bigger movers on heavier-than-average volume:

Nortel Networks
(
NT |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
fell 3 5/8 to 63 5/16 ahead of its earnings report.
The Nortel November 65 puts gained 1 7/8 to 6 5/8 on more than 9000 contracts.

PMC Sierra
(
PMCS |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
fell 11 5/8 to 198 7/8 while the PMCS November 240
calls sank 3 1/2 to 2 on more than triple average volume.

General Electric
(
GE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
gained 3 5/8 to 53 3/8 while the GE November 55
calls added 11/16 to 1 1/2 on more than 6000 contracts.

Pfizer
(
PFE |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating)
lose 2 3/8 to 43 despite beating earnings estimates. The
Pfizer November 45 calls fell 1 1/8 to 1 on more than 10,000 contracts.