General Electric (GE) closed at $15.75. GE forecasts flat revenue and margin growth in 2010. GE January option implied volatility of 33 is below its 26-week average of 39, according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price movement.

IVX Volatility Monitor: PHLX Oil Service Index (OSX) was down 2.6% to 30.9, NASDAQ (NDX) was down 0.2% to 20, Gold and Silver (XAU) dropped 1.5% to 41, according to IVolatility.

Option Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

In recent weeks, the Nasdaq-100 Index (NDX) has lost considerable ground on an absolute basis and relative to the S&P 500 index.

Interestingly, if you graph the relationship between the large cap, technology-heavy bellwether and the broad market index going back to 2002, the pattern of recent months looks vaguely familiar.

In fact, it seems to be a mirror image of the false breakdown that occurred in the summer of 2006. After that particular "head fake," the ratio staged a major upside reversal, and technology shares outpaced the S&P 500 index by a wide margin over the course of the following 12 months.

After a major run-up that began in earnest this past summer, the Nasdaq 100 index peaked relative to the Nasdaq Composite index about six weeks ago. The large cap-laden NDX then staged a short but sharp correction.

More recently, however, the ratio has bounced back and is once again nearing resistance at the October highs. The shares of larger companies have no doubt been boosted by stampeding institutions anxious to put money to work in what appears to be an early "Santa Claus" rally.

Still, given how circumstances panned out previously, it may be time to look for another pullback in the Nasdaq 100 in comparison to the broader technology-based index.

One way to play it (depending on risk tolerance): buy the Fidelity Nasdaq Composite Index Tracking Stock ETF (NASDAQ: ONEQ) and sell (or sell short) the Powershares QQQ Trust ETF (NASDAQ: QQQQ).

Michael Panzner is a 25-year veteran of the global stock, bond, and currency markets and the author of Financial Armageddon: Protecting Your Future from Four Impending Catastrophes and The New Laws of the Stock Market Jungle.

Each week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission publishes a report known as the Commitments of Traders Report ("COT"), which breaks down aggregate trader positions ( "open interest") in certain futures and options markets into three categories: commercial, non-commercial, and nonreportable.

According to the CFTC, commercial operators, or "hedgers," are "engaged in business activities hedged by the use of futures or option markets." Non-commercial operators, or "large speculators," include individuals and firms, such as hedge funds, that engage in large-scale speculative buying and selling. Nonreportables, or "small speculators," comprise all other participants, including individual traders.

Since bottoming on March 5, the Nasdaq-100 index has been on a tear, gaining 12.77% through yesterday's close.

Yet, if you break things down and analyze the performance of the index's constituent members, it paints a slightly disconcerting picture. Despite upbeat talk from bulls about the health of the market and the rally's sustainability, the advance so far has been narrowly-based.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), for example, has played a major role in boosting the index, accounting for more than 20% of the upswing. Rallies in three stocks -- Apple, Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG), and Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) -- comprise nearly a third, while seven stocks are responsible for just under half the gain over the past four months. Finally, only 13 out of 100 stocks, or 13%, account for two-thirds of the overall advance.

While this heavy lifting by a small number of shares doesn't mean the Nasdaq-100 can't go higher still, history suggests that rallies lacking widespread participation sometimes lack long-term staying power.

Michael Panzner is a 25-year veteran of the global stock, bond, and currency markets and the author of Financial Armageddon: Protecting Your Future from Four Impending Catastrophes and The New Laws of the Stock Market Jungle: An Insider's Guide to Successful Investing in a Changing World.