The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 13,943.26) is up 63 points, or 0.5%, buoyed by some upbeat economic data from across the pond, as well as a strong quarterly earnings report from Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ). Elsewhere, the CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX - 14.73) is 0.5 point, or 3.2%, lower.

Here are a few noteworthy stats at midday:

1. The equity put/call volume ratio across all 11 options exchanges stands at 1.01, with calls and puts each seeing more than 3.2 million contracts exchanged so far today.
   
   
2. Among the equities with call-slanted activity is Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF - 45.77), which has shed around 6.7% during the course of the session, after falling slightly short of analysts' quarterly earnings forecast this morning. Nevertheless, calls make up 54.2% of the security's intraday option volume. At the other end of the spectrum is Eli Lilly & Co. (NYSE:LLY - 54.01), which has seen 86.9% of its trading cross on the put side of the aisle. At last check, the stock remains nearly flat with yesterday's close.
   
   
3. The put/call volume ratio on the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (NYSEARCA:VXX - 22.78) sits at 0.86, with calls outpacing puts.
   
   
4. The Nasdaq shows an advance/decline ratio of 2.20, with the number upward movers more than doubling the decliners.
   
   
5. Among the Nasdaq's major advancers is Sourcefire, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIRE - 48.52), which has soared almost 15% in intraday action after revealing better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue, and issuing a current-quarter sales outlook that bested analysts' projections. The results also triggered a price-target hike to $52 from $48 at Jefferies ahead of the open.
   
   
6. Optimism waned during the week ended Feb. 20, according to the latest survey by the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII). The percentage of investors with a bullish view on stocks slipped to 41.8% from 42.3%, while the percentage bearish rose to 32.5% from 28.7%. Meanwhile, the percentage neutral fell to 25.7% from 29.0%.