Dow Jones Industrial Average Pops With Oil Prices

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is following crude oil higher, even as Dow stock Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) sinks post-earnings and housing starts fell dramatically last month. Nevertheless, energy stocks are booming following well-received comments from Saudi Arabia's oil minister and a surprise drop in U.S. inventories -- with the Energy Information Administration showing domestic stockpiles fell by roughly 5.2 million barrels last week. At last check, November-dated crude was up 2.9% to $51.77 per barrel. Looking ahead, the Federal Reserve will be in focus this afternoon, with Dallas Fed President Rob Kaplan taking the mic at 1:30 p.m. ET, and the release of the Fed's Beige Book to follow.

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• Plus ... Checking in on the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), and other noteworthy stats at midday.

Tech stock Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) is among the stocks with unusual options volume at midday, with calls and puts trading at double the expected intraday rate. The stock is up 2.4% at $42.68, after YHOO's better-than-expected earnings stoked a round of largely bullish brokerage attention. Most active is the October 40.50 put, where it looks like traders may be selling to close their positions ahead of options expiration this Friday.

Among the top performers on the New York Stock Exchange is financial firm Banc of California Inc (NYSE:BANC). The stock dropped more than 30% of its value Tuesday on a scandalous accusation, but is attempting a bounce back today, following the company's upbeat earnings report. The shares were last seen 15.4% higher, at $12.99.

LED specialist Cree, Inc. (NASDAQ:CREE) is among the Nasdaq's worst performers at midday. The stock has shed 10.5% to $22.56 -- earlier tapping a four-year low of $21.50 -- after the company's fiscal first-quarter revenue miss and dreary forecast prompted a round of bearish analyst attention.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) is off 0.9 point, or 5.8%, at 14.40.

Today's put/call volume ratio on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) is 2.18 with puts more than doubling calls. SPY was last seen up 0.5 point, or 0.2%, at $214.24.

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