"With almost no earnings and little economic data, the market didn't have too much to digest," remarked Schaeffer's Senior Equities Analyst Joe Bell. "After last week's QE3 announcement and market surge, it was pretty obvious that we were overbought on a short-term basis. Well, we got the breather and the market pretty much grinded sideways each and every day this week." Though the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) couldn't maintain its positive momentum today, the index still recorded its seventh straight settlement atop 13,500.

Keep reading to see what else was on our radar today:

• Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE:LVS), OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OVTI), and Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) saw an uptick in bullish option activity.
• Option Idea of the Week: Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT)
• Plus, what do Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO), and a 50-day trendline have to do with Facebook Inc.'s (NASDAQ:FB) recent uptrend?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI – 13,579.47) was in positive territory for most of the day, but fell below breakeven in the last 20 minutes of trading. The blue-chip barometer backpedaled 17.5 points, or 0.1%, by the time the dust cleared. Of the Dow's 30 components, The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) and Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA) paced the 17 laggards with losses of 1.6% and 1.3%, respectively. On the other hand, McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) led the 13 winning issues with a 0.6% increase. Today's late-day sell-off pulled the Dow to a 0.1% loss for the week.

The S&P 500 Index (SPX – 1,460.15) started off the day modestly higher, but slowly backpedaled into the red. By the close, the SPX found itself fractionally lower, and turned in a weekly deficit of 0.4%.

After tagging a near 12-year best at the 3,196.93 mark this morning, the Nasdaq Composite (COMP – 3,179.96) mirrored the action of its fellow benchmarks, but maintained a 4-point, or 0.1%, gain for the day. For the week, however, the tech-rich COMP gave up 0.1%.

The CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX – 13.98) slipped 0.6%. On the week, the market's fear gauge retreated 3.7%.

Today's highlight: "The end is finally here and we can finally pull the plug on this comatose week of market action," said Bell. "We are still a couple of weeks away from earnings season, but we may start to see some warnings and pre-announcements coming next week."

Turning to today's major market stories...

• Last-minute options speculators laid out quick bets on Skyworks Solutions Inc (NASDAQ:SWKS).
• Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Expedia Inc (NASDAQ:EXPE) broke out to new highs.
• Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), while Evercore Partners downgraded E*TRADE Financial Corporation (NASDAQ:ETFC) and Charles Schwab Corp (NYSE:SCHW).
• Contrarians could find a tasty trade with Brinker International, Inc. (NYSE:EAT).
• Option Trends: Look in on the recent options activity for three of Wall Street's hot stocks.
• October-dated calls were the options of choice today on Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P), while put players bought soon-to-be front-month contracts on VIVUS, Inc. (NASDAQ:VVUS).
• Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB): Cutting Through the Noise.

For today's activity in commodities, options, and more, head to page 2.