Tuesday's Market Rap: GE, DELL, ALGN and UNM

The markets moved up mildly through yesterday's session to close with small gains, even though crude oil futures climbed 5% after reports of possible Saudi Oil cuts. Recreational goods along with independent oil and gas stocks were up while major airlines and consumer services stocks were down.

Align Technology Inc (NASDAQ:ALGN) jumped up $2.92 (21%) to $16.69 after topping forecasts. UnumProvident (NYSE:UNM) was up $2.09 (10.5%) to $22.02.

The NYSE had volume of 2.6 billion shares traded with 2,331 issues advancing while 970 declined for a gain of 66.84 points to close at 9,206.39. On the NASDAQ, 1.8 billion shares were traded, 1,840 stocks advanced and 1,195 declined for a loss of 7.55 points closing at 2,448.64.

Yesterday's list of most active stocks included Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) down $0.05 to close at $30.48, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) up $1.27 to $19.58 and Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:SUNW) up $0.08 to $6.43. Investors traded Microsoft shares heavily after it launched the consumer versions of Windows Vista.

Today's put/call option volume ratio was a neutral 0.83 with 2.8 million puts and 3.4 million calls trading hands. Options on General Electric (NYSE:GE) were particularly active with the March $37.50 puts (GEOS) trading over 28,000 contracts. Options on Dell (NASDAQ:DELL) were active with the February 25 calls (DLQBE) trading over 22,000 contracts.

Looking at today's market action there are a number of economic reports due including GDP, Construction Spending, and EIA Petroleum Status report. Investors will also be reading the latest FED notes coming out at 2:15 PM EST. Stocks to watch tomorrow include Altria (NYSE:MO) and Boeing (NYSE: BA) both of which will be reporting earnings.

Kevin Kersten is an analyst with InvestorsObserver. DISCLOSURE NOTE: Mr. Kersten owns and/or controls diversified portfolios of long and short stock and option positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.