Honeywell (HON) closed at $45.27 after HON said, "The strong productivity actions taken last year are continuing to benefit the company, and along with improving economic conditions, we now expect our earnings to be near the high-end of our full-year guidance range of $2.20 – 2.40." The 2010 consensus EPS estimate is $2.40. April put option implied volatility is at 21, May and June is at 24, September is at 27; verses its 26-week average of 28 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing near-term price movement.

Three stocks with IV rise on March 31; Liberty Property Trust (LRY) +3%, Arena Pharma (ARNA) +7%, Garmin (GRMN) +5% according to IVolatility.

CBOE Volatility Index-VIX at 17.59; 10-day moving average is 17.28, 50-day is 20.53, 200-day moving average is 23.26.

Update is by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com

Sellers took control at the open and sent the market lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average got with striking distance of the August 1st low -- down 200 points -- before rebounding to close down only 31 points.

The NYSE had volume of 4.3 billion shares with 1,279 shares advancing while 2,058 declined for a loss of 14.27 points to close at 9,435.04. On the NASDAQ, 3.2 billion shares traded, 1,309 advanced and 1,792 declined for a loss of 11.6 to 2,544.89.

Eaton Corporation (NYSE: ETN) rose $6.98 (8%) to $93.45. Las Vegas Sands Corp. (NYSE: LVS) fell $7.68 (-7%) to $100.47. Coventry Health Care, Inc. (NYSE: CVH) strengthened $3.26 (6%) to $54.38. Whole Foods Market, Inc. (NASDAQ: WFMI) fell $2.58 (-6%) to $42.27. Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE: DRI) rose $2.15 (5%) to $42.94.

With the market plunging on the open, the options were active. There were 8.8 million puts and 8.3 million calls traded for a put/call open interest ratio of 1.07. Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) saw heavy volume on the August 45 calls (GQRHI) with over 259,000 options trading. The August 75.0 Garmin calls (GQRHO) moved 121,000 options. Most of this option volume is dividend arbitration in anticipation of the 0.75 cent dividend Monday.

Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) saw heavy volume on the August 130 calls (APVHF) with over 55,000 options trading. Financial Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE: XLF) saw heavy volume on the September 34 puts (XLFUH) with over 234,000 options trading. The other strikes were active as well and they investors were likely trying to protect investments capital. PowerShares QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ: QQQQ) saw heavy volume on the September 45 puts (QQQUS) moving 171,000. Put index options can work as an insurance policy against market falls.

Kevin Kersten is an Options Analyst with InvestorsObserver.com. Disclosure note: Mr. Kersten owns and or controls a diversified portfolio of long and short positions that may include holdings in companies he writes about.