Vimpel Communication (VIP - 41-5/8) shares soared as high as 43-1/2 to a new intraday high. The shares exhibited this positive reaction to the news of Russian Prime Minister Boris Yeltsin's premature retirement. The shares gapped through the 35 strike, which had contained the most recent attempts at an advance. Average daily volume on the stock, which trades as an ADR on the NYSE, is a little more than 100,000 shares. In this abbreviated market day, which has been marked by low volume, over 490,000 shares have already changed hands. VIP is a Russian cellular communications company and was the first Russian stock to trade on the NYSE as an ADR. Option activity is typically light on the shares as exhibited by the 2,038 total open-interest figure, which is bearishly configured with 1,076 put positions and 962 call positions. The sites of peak open interest are 212 contracts on the January 25 put and 142 contracts on the January 30 call. Option activity today has seen 107 calls and 78 puts cross the tape.<
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Philip Morris (MO - 23-1/16) is trading more than two percent lower in today's abbreviated session. This downturn comes after the shares were firmly rejected by their 20-day moving average on Thursday. Since November 22, MO has fallen by over 17 percent. On the options front today, the out-of-the-money January 25 call has been active on volume of 1,338 contracts. This is one of the most-active calls on the AMEX.<
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The S&P Retail Index (RLX - 1023.1) continues its march higher today, marking its fifth straight record high. Since late October, the index has tacked on 25 percent. Nevertheless, pessimism is running high toward the group. Our research shows that the sector's put/call ratio is higher than 74 percent of all readings taken over the past 12 months.

The top performing RLX component today is Wal-Mart Stores (WMT - 69-5/8). As we noted in a recent Market Byte, WMT has been bumping its head against options-related resistance at the 70 strike for the past few days. Today, the shares marked a new all-time high at 70-1/4, but have since backpedaled. A sustained break above the 70 mark would be a healthy sign for the equity, as there is still plenty of pessimism toward the stock to fuel an additional rally. Short interest on WMT is heavy at 40.8 million shares, making it the fifth most shorted stock on the NYSE. With a short-interest ratio of 6.6 times the stock's average daily volume, a move to the upside could spark some significant short covering.
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Home Depot (HD - 68-7/8) shares split 3-for-2 this morning. The stock is trading at an all-time high and is a relative-strength leader compared to the broader market and the S&P Retail Index (RLX - 1024.1), which is making an all-time high today as well. The most-active option on HD this morning is the out-of-the-money January 63-3/8 put, with over 500 contracts of volume, as speculators continue to fade this strong trend in HD.<
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The CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX - 26.36) closed at 25.94 last night. Meanwhile, the one-month historical volatility of the S&P 100 Index (OEX - 792.30) was 12 percent. Therfore, OEX implied volatilities are more than double the OEX historical volatility, which is a huge differential.
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