The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 12,489.45) is off 13 points, or 0.1%, as investors are focusing on the usual euro-zone concerns, as well as a drop in the Conference Board's consumer confidence index. Elsewhere, the CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX - 20.23) is down 0.2 point, or 0.7%.

Here are a few noteworthy stats at midday:

1. The equity put/call volume ratio across all nine options exchanges stands at 1.03, with 2.1 million puts being exchanged so far today, compared to 2.0 million calls.
   
   
2. Among the equities with put-heavy activity is Elan Corporation (NYSE:ELN - 14.48), despite gaining 2.8% so far today. Currently, puts make up 89.3% of the biotech company's current intraday option volume.
   
   
3. The put/call volume ratio on the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) sits at 0.52, with calls nearly doubling puts.
   
   
4. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) shows an advance/decline ratio of 0.88, indicating that the number of downward movers outstrips the advancers.
   
   
5. Among the NYSE's major decliners is Navistar International Corporation (NYSE:NAV - 24.82), which has extended Monday's decline by about 2% in intraday trading. On Friday, the commercial vehicle concern was slapped with a credit-rating cut at Fitch Ratings amid high warranty costs and possible emissions compliancy issues.