Cisco Leads Dow Jones Industrial Average North; Nasdaq Hits 15-Year High

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:DJI) is trading slightly higher around midday, powered by a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and a post-earnings bull gap from Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) -- the latter of which is helping to offset steep losses for American Express Company (NYSE:AXP). At last check, the blue-chip index was up 34 points, or 0.2%. Elsewhere, the S&P 500 Index (SPX) touched a fresh year-to-date high of 2,083.27, while the Nasdaq Composite (COMP) hit its loftiest mark in nearly 15 years, topping out at 4,840.15. On the economic front, though, weekly jobless claims came in higher than expected, retail sales for January were worse than anticipated, and Greece and the European Union pushed "pause" on bailout talks.

Continue reading for more on today's market -- and don't miss:

• Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:WFM) is shooting up the charts -- and attracting bullish bettors -- following an earnings beat.
• The M&A news that sparked a run on Priceline Group Inc (NASDAQ:PCLN) calls.
• Plus ... Checking in on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), and other noteworthy stats at midday.

Among the stocks with notable call volume is cybersecurity specialist FireEye Inc (NASDAQ:FEYE), which is surging on its latest quarterly results, as well as bullish brokerage attention. Specifically, calls are running at seven times the expected intraday rate, with buy-to-open activity detected at the weekly 2/13 40 and March 39 strikes. At last check, FEYE was up 12.3% at $40.06.

For more midday statistics and stocks on the move, head to page 2.

E-commerce platform Zulily Inc (NASDAQ:ZU) is the biggest decliner on the Nasdaq, down more than 26% to trade at $14.70. Pressuring the shares are a lackluster turn in the earnings confessional and a subsequent round of negative analyst notes. Earlier, ZU bottomed at a record low of $14.45.

One of the notable advancers on the Big Board is plant-based products seller WhiteWave Foods Co (NYSE:WWAV), after reporting better-than-expected quarterly revenue. At last check, WWAV was 6.8% higher at $37.95, and earlier toppled $38 for just the third time ever.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is down 1 point, or 5.7%, at 15.99 -- its first foray south of 16 since late January.

Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 2.10, with puts roughly doubling calls. At last check, SPY is up 1.1 points, or 0.6%, at $208.06.