STOCKS NEWS US-VIX departs from its relationship with S&P 500

Stocks on the move [HOT-RTRS] Real-Time Equity news [U E]

U.S. stock market report [.N]
1630 ET-13March2009 - VIX ends up in departure from typical S&P relationship
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The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX, the implied volatility measure of the S&P
index .SPX, rose as the S&P benchmark advanced, another instance of the
indexes departing from their typical inverse relationship. The VIX rose 2.87
percent to 42.36 while the S&P 500 was up 0.77 percent to 756.55. The VIX is
closely tied to the historical volatility of the S&P. The two are linked
because the VIX tracks the expected volatility of the benchmark over the next
30 days and so past behavior reflected by the daily up or down moves in the S&P
will also guide those expectations about future volatility. With the VIX
pushing up, the 20-day historical volatility for SPX stood at 46 percent after
the S&P 500 posted two large surges on Tuesday and Thursday, said
Optionmonster.com analyst Chris McKhann. "This is the first time that the
implied volatility has been below the historical volatility since mid-January
and helps to explain the rise in the VIX even with the SPX up," he said.

1540 ET-13March2009 Option players flock to Citi call options
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Option players are hoping to catch significant gains in Citigroup (C.N) as
its shares rose 7.78 percent to $1.80. In the March contract some investors
hoped for an additional rally in shares to $2.50 as some 15,000 calls at the
$2.50 strike were bought for 7 cents each, said Andrew Wilkinson, analyst at
Interactive Brokers Group in a note. Optimism spread to the April contract
where 8,000 calls were bought for 18 cents each at the $3 strike price. One
investor provided parameters for his bullishness by establishing a call spread
in the June contract, he said. At the June $4 strike price 7,100 calls were
purchased for 20 cents apiece, while at the June $6 strike 7,100 calls were
sold for 9 cents. The net cost of the spread was 11 cents and yields a maximum
potential profit of $1.89 if shares can surge upward by 233 percent to $6 by
June expiry. One player also got bullish in the Jan 2010 contract and paid 75
cents to purchase 14,000 calls at the Jan $2.50 strike.
Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net
1448 ET 13March2009-BofA shareholder rejects CEO Lewis as chairman
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Bank of America (BAC.N) investor Jerry Finger and his family is calling on
other shareholders to vote to replace Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis as the
bank's board chairman. Finger, who owns about 1.5 million shares of the bank,
has argued that Lewis took too many risks in buying Merrill Lynch, an
investment bank that recently suffered billions of dollars of losses.

Finger is filing a notice with U.S. regulators to allow him to run a "vote
no" campaign without a formal proxy solicitation. The campaign will also call
for shareholders to reject the reelection of lead director Temple Sloan and
Jackie Ward, chairman of the bank's asset-quality committee.

"This group of directors needs to be aware of their duty to shareholders
and needs to fulfill that," said Finger's son John Finger, who co-manages
Finger Interests with his father.

For details, see [ID:nN13449661]

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1442 ET 13March2009-NetScout plummets after Needham downgrade
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Shares of NetScout Systems (NTCT.O) plunged on Friday, after Needham & Co
downgraded the applications software provider to hold from buy, citing a
challenging demand environment for the company beyond the current quarter.

"It is our belief, after speaking with several important NetScout field
contacts, that spending on products among existing customers in 2009 is slowing
due to overall pressure on IT budgets," the firm wrote. [ID:nBNG494586]

Shares of the company shed 23 percent to $6.94.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1427 ET 13March2009-Dow, S&P flat, Nasdaq hurt by tech sell-off
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The Dow and S&P 500 were flat on Friday, as strength in healthcare stocks,
prompted by an upgrade of Merck & Co (MRK.N) was offset by profit-taking in
financial and technology shares. The sell-off in big-cap tech stocks weighed on
the Nasdaq.

For details, see [ID:nN13449783]

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 0.2 percent to 7,181.76 while
the S&P 500 .SPX gained 0.1 percent to 751.14 and the Nasdaq .IXIC was down
0.5 percent to 1,419.68.

Reuters Messaging: ryan.vlastelica.reuters.com@reuters.net
1325 ET-13March2009 VIX rises but still at bottom of range
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The CBOE Volatility Index .VIX, the implied volatility measure of the S&P
500 index .SPX, rose 3.76 percent to 42.73 as U.S. stocks reversed losses in
choppy trade. The VIX, often called Wall Street's fear gauge, is testing the
bottom of its range of 39 to 53 and appears to be bouncing off the lower
Bollinger Band line of 40.62, two standard deviations of the 20-day moving
average of 47.13, said Scott Fullman, director of derivative investment
strategy at WJB Capital Group. On Thursday, the VIX ended at 41.10, it lowest
close since Jan. 28. "This still appears to be a bear market rally and while we
have had the best performance in the S&P 500 in five months, the fact is that
we still have a lot of work to do and losses to recover before a true bottom in
the market has been set," Fullman said.

Reuters Messaging: doris.frankel.reuters.com@reuters.net