iShares Trust FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Fund (NYSE: FXI) volatility up:

FXI rallied 6% to a record. FXI is an index fund that seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the FTSE/Xinhua China 25 Index. FXI was recently up $10.29 to $153.94. FXI September option implied volatility was at 53 above its 26-week average of 30 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

China Mobile LTD (ADR) (NYSE: CHL) volatility elevated as CHL rallies 5% to record High.

CHL, a global wireless carrier with 301 million subscribers, was recently up $3.77 to $67.65. CHL September option implied volatility of 47 was above its 26-week average of 33 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risk.

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

Following Tuesday's announcement that Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) had dropped its plans to make a bid for London-based EMI Group PLC (LSE: EMI), Billboard.com reported yesterday that former EMI CEO Jim Fifield and Bidco, a firm backing any potential offer by him, had also dropped plans to acquire the English music giant. Like WMG, they still retain a six month window to make an offer.

EMI has reportedly contacted shareholders and reaffirmed the board member's commitments to the May offer from European private equity firm Terra Firma for 265 pence per share. That bid now sits higher than the closing price of EMI shares yesterday, 261.75 pence, five pence below Tuesday's closing price. Between July 5 and 12, EMI had enjoyed a boost rising well into the 270s, but the stock fell after a third deadline announcement by Terra Firma. Announcements by Warner and Fifield about dropped plans to counterbid for the company have obviously hurt the stock even more.

In addition to stock deceleration, another report on by Billboard.com yesterday indicated that in physical and digital sales of music last year, EMI accounted for only 12.8% of combined sales. WMG accounted for 13.8% which means a combined WMG-EMI company only a 0.9% lead over industry leader Universal Music Group's 25.7%, and just 0.1% over all independent music labels. One has to wonder if EMI's large steps this year into the digital world will make any lasting dent in the company's sales.

Next time my Mom threatens my Dad to toss his hundreds of vinyl LPs that he's collected over the last 20+ years, I am going to direct him to the latest in turntables -- one that allows users to convert LPs to digital files directly from the platter onto one's hard drive.

Today's Sunday New York Times reports on two new consumer turntables on the market at $200 that will let one's memories re-live in a digital format, including the iPod.

One of the new turntables is called the Ion iTTUSB Turntable with USB Record and it is listed for $199, but can be bought for around $150 on Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). This turntable is compatible with Macs and PCs. However, one downside is that the process of converting these old LPs can be time-consuming. The turntable has to be assembled properly and the LPs must be thoroughly cleaned. The recording software which comes on a CD takes about a half hour to set up properly, and may take even longer if you have a slower learning curve.

I know my Mom will be relieved to know that there's hope that the many apple crates packed with LPs gathering dust in our basement may soon be gone. (Though I think my Dad cherishes the album cover art as much as he does the music, so the battle may not be totally won.)

It seemed that every morning of last week I asked in Before the Bell whether today would be the day that the Dow Jones Industrial average would close at its all-time high. But to no avail. Well, today isn't over yet and we still have to wait for the a closing record, but an intraday record has already been reached.

Last I checked, around 1 p.m., the Dow Jones industrial average was at 11,754.47, more than four points over and above its 11,750.28 all-time high set on Jan 14, 2000. Today's high was actually 11,755.35. [Update: at 2 p.m., the DJIA had fallen to just below its high at 11,742.23, but was still on track for a closing bell high.]

Since that January 14, 2000 record day, we've seen the market hit by one thing after another, starting with the dot com bubble burst, terrorism, the economic slowdown that ensued and corporate scandals in the form of Enron and the likes.

Oddly enough, as my colleagues Sarah Gilbert and Amey Stone have both pointed out, this is a different world and a different market and while the Dow climbs, the rest of Wall Street is quite a bit more conservative, analyzing each piece of economic data as it comes out, and each earnings report, before making any decisions. Investors are still not sure whether they should cheer or fear certain indicators that may show inflationary pressures are under control -- but perhaps at the price of the economy.