Dow Jones Industrial Average Drops With Apple

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is sliding lower with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), following Monday's triple-digit win. Utility and energy stocks are slumping with oil prices, as October-dated crude oil has given back 1.3% to trade at $46.38 per barrel. Fed comments have also kept rate-hike jitters in focus, helping financial stocks outperform. Specifically, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer reiterated his "data-dependent" stance this morning, noting that the U.S. "is very close to full employment." Elsewhere, the consumer confidence index rose to a bigger-than-expected 101.1 in August, while home prices eased in June.

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

• Why Europe slapped Apple with a $14.5 billion tax bill.
• The food stock crashing on a dashed buyout bid.
• 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 unusual options volume at midday is wearable tech stock Fitbit Inc (NYSE:FIT). The company revealed two new fitness wristbands on Monday, and was last seen 2.9% higher at $15.38. FIT options are changing hands at roughly twice their average intraday pace, with calls outnumbering puts on an absolute basis. Most active by far is the weekly 9/2 15.50-strike call, where more than 11,000 contracts have traded -- including a block of nearly 8,800, which looks like it may have been sold to open.

Airline interest United Continental Holdings Inc (NYSE:UAL) is among the top performers on the New York Stock Exchange today, after news the firm hired American Airlines Group Inc (NASDAQ:AAL) president Scott Kirby was met with applause from the brokerage bunch. At last check, UAL was up 9.1% at $51.24, trimming its year-to-date losses to 10.6%.

Among the worst performers on the Big Board at midday is retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF), which has dropped roughly 20% to $18.31, after the company reported a drop in sales for the 14th quarter in a row. Plus, ANF received price-target cuts at Deutsche Bank (to $21) and Jefferies (to $30), and the shares are now down 44% from their early March annual high.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is up 0.03 point, or 0.2%, at 12.97.

Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 1.67, with puts easily outnumbering calls. SPY was last spotted down 0.5 point, or 0.2%, at $217.86.

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