Options Trading News

Equity indexes closed last week with some new highs, as the CBOE Volatility Index dropped again.

The S&P 500 was up 8.54 points to 1517.93 on Friday, its highest close since October 2007. The index surged right after the open and stayed in an amazingly tight 2-point range for most of the day, finishing just off the session's highs. Support is now at 1492.

The Nasdaq 100 added 29 points to close at 2775. It also ran higher at the open and stayed in a 4-point range. The NDX is still lagging the other indexes but did see its highest close since mid-October. It has resistance at 2785 and support at 2715.

The Russell 2000 was up 5.6 points to 913.67, yet another new all-time high for the small-cap index. It has support at 895.

The VIX was lower on the day but able to hold the 13 level. It was down 0.48 points, or 3.6 percent, to 13.02 after hitting a low of 12.89 in the morning. The 20-day historical volatility for the SPX is just below 8 percent.

The VIX futures followed lower. The February futures, which have only two days left to trade, and were down 0.30 points to 13.80. The March futures lost 0.25 points to finish at 15.10.

This left the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Note (VXX) down 2 percent at 22.99, pushing back toward the all-time low of $22.45 set on Jan. 24.

The VIX options turned over 378,000 contracts, led by 229,000 calls. The VVIX Index, which measures the implied volatility of the VIX options, was down 3.2 percent to 74.42, not far off last month's lifetime low.