The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 13,769.93) is up 58 points, or 0.4%, thanks to a round of well-received earnings reports that included International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM). On the economic front, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) said home prices rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% in November, notching a tenth consecutive monthly gain. However, the latest figure fell slightly short of the 0.7% increase projected by economists. Meanwhile, the Street is awaiting the House of Representatives' vote on whether to push the debt-ceiling from March to May. Elsewhere, the CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX - 12.38) is 0.1 point, or 0.4%, lower.

Here are a few noteworthy stats at midday:

1. The equity put/call volume ratio across all 11 options exchanges sits at 0.92, with 3.6 million calls traded so far today, versus 3.3 million puts.
   
   
2. Among the equities with call-slanted activity is Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE - 39.87), which has spiked more than 19%, and tagged a new annual high of $40.44. The company reported a 69% increase in quarterly profit, and issued an upbeat fiscal third-quarter outlook after Tuesday's close. Today's news also triggered coverage from Piper Jaffray, where analysts started the stock with an "overweight" rating and a price target of $43. Meanwhile, a slew of brokerage firms, including UBS, J.P. Morgan Securities, and Barclays, raised their respective price targets. Currently, calls represent 67.8% of the security's intraday option volume.
   
   
3. The put/call volume ratio on the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (NYSEARCA:VXX - 23.13) -- which touched a new record low of 22.99 earlier in the session -- stands at 0.94, with calls slightly outstripping puts.
   
   
4. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shows an advance/decline ratio of 0.79, with the number of downward movers outpacing the advancers.
   
   
5. Among the NYSE's major decliners is Coach, Inc. (NYSE:COH - 51.62), which has shed almost 15% in intraday trading after reporting weaker-than-expected fiscal second-quarter earnings this morning. The stock was hit with bearish brokerage notes from S&P Capital IQ, Canaccord Genuity, and Jefferies as a result.
   
   
6. Bullish sentiment remained flat last week, according to the latest Investors Intelligence survey. The percentage of financial advisors with a bullish view on stocks stayed at 53.2%, while the percentages bearish and those expecting a market correction were also unchanged at 22.3% and 24.5%, respectively.