Option traders pushed up call option prices in the general entertainment industry and pushed up put option prices in the diversified utilities industry today.

Bullish Volatility Skews

• World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. (WWE) -- part of the general entertainment industry -- came in at the top with a volatility skew of 1.18. This may come as a surprise as WWE is down 1.53% for the past month.

World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) story hasn't changed too much, in my opinion. It's holding up pretty well with its business model, but as far as unambiguous growth is concerned, management remains in a challenged position.

WWE released Q4 earnings to the market on Thursday, and the results were rather mediocre for the most part. Per-share profit dropped three pennies to 15 cents. Revenues saw a modest decline. Excluding items, adjusted operating income increased 9% on a dollar basis.

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) hasn't fully succeeded with its film model. The company's slate has yet to produce a bona fide hit yet. Because of this, management has decided to change the strategy governing the operations of the WWE Studios asset.

WWE has elected to take over the marketing/distribution chores for its movies, ditching previous partners Lions Gate Entertainment (LGF) and News Corp. (NWS) in the process, as this article at Variety indicates. However, there's an even bigger change that all shareholders should focus on.

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is a fun stock to keep tabs on. Not only is it linked to some crazy (and I mean that in a good way) content, but it sports one heck of a yield. As of this writing, WWE is yielding over 9%. Pretty cool, huh?

Yet, at the same time, investors worry over the company's programming. They have to; WWE lives and breathes by the excitement quotient of its various plots and skirmishes. Wall Street wants to see the ratings go as high as possible, and for that to happen, WWE has to deliver.

Here are some highlights from last week's earnings coverage from BloggingStocks:

• CBS Corp. (NYSE: CBS) reported that Q3 revenue was flat while earnings and cash flow declined.
• Clorox Co. (NYSE: CLX) reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, helped by healthy gross margins.
• Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) posted better-than-expected Q3 earnings with modest revenue growth.
• Dean Foods Co. (NYSE: DF) Q3 revenue missed estimates but earnings came in better than expected.
• Expeditors International of Washington Inc. (NASDAQ: EXPD) traded lower after its Q3 earnings miss.
• Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) beat earnings estimates in the week after the Google Navigation launch.

World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE)'s stock jumped Thursday after the market took a look at the company's Q3 data. Overall revenues didn't see much of an increase, but earnings per share rose over 70% to 12 cents. Driving this incredible growth rate was a cut in gross costs. Analysts were betting on 10 cents in per-share profit, according to Earnings.com.

Did WWE deserve a pop of 7% during yesterday's trading session? Some of the excitement was certainly justified. It's obviously a positive thing to see management acting so diligently when it comes to costs. Of course, there was an increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses during the quarter, so there is still room for improvement (the nine-month table did show a decrease in this line, to be fair).

Linda McMahon, as I'm sure most investors are aware, is no longer the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE). Her husband, Vincent K. McMahon, now occupies the role. The reason? Political ambitions. She wants to be a senator. Now, here's the question: should shareholders be worried about the change?

My opinion? Investors shouldn't worry at all. Well, perhaps that's overstating it a little, but I think there are a few things media observers should keep in mind.

There's some exciting news in the world of World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE). Looks like Vince McMahon wants to expand his media empire via entering the world of basic cable. Yes, he's already on basic cable, of course, but now he's intent on literally creating his very own wrestling channel.

According to a blog at the Los Angeles Times website, McMahon would be interested in launching a dedicated WWE channel within two years. This makes complete sense on several levels. First, WWE has a lot of content in its library that needs to be monetized; WWE's existing video-on-demand product already leverages the company's portfolio, but exposure to ad-supported cable would be helpful. Second, it could boost the profile of the WWE brand. Third, it might help long-term growth; without question, WWE needs to do something to compensate for the falloff it is seen in pay-per-view buys.

World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) walked to the ring with its second quarter results on Thursday. WWE increased revenues by 7%. Earnings per share came in at 27 cents per share as opposed to 10 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. In the first quarter of this year, WWE reported lower sales and income.

Wrestlemania XXV hulked up the quarter, it must be kept in mind. And that's great. However, don't think WWE is out of the woods yet when it comes to pay-per-view performance. For instance, both the Backlash and Judgment Day events saw decreases in buy rates. Any Wrestlemania event is a given in terms of popularity, but you really want to see every event at least maintain a flat growth rate. Remember: Wrestlemania comes only once a year, not every quarter.

THQ (NASDAQ: THQI), a video-game software publisher that competes with Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS), Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO), and my personal favorite, Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), lost well over 6% of its market value during Tuesday's after-hours trading session. The culprit catalyst? First-quarter earnings.

I was a bit surprised by the sell-off at first. After all, sales increased over 77%, and earnings per share on an adjusted basis came in at 10 cents versus a loss of 38 cents one year ago. That sounds awesome on the surface, as does the fact that Reuters says the market was actually expecting a loss of 6 cents per share!

JAKKS Pacific (NASDAQ: JAKK) is in rough shape. Sure, the toy industry can be tough. Just ask Hasbro (NYSE: HAS) and Mattel (NYSE: MAT). Even with great brands stocking a powerhouse portfolio, getting, and then keeping, the attention of kids is a difficult task. Well, JAKKS Pacific not only has that challenge to contend with, it has others as well.

Let's start with the awful earnings report management released to the market after the bell on Tuesday. For the second quarter, the company lost 3 cents per share on an adjusted basis. This compares to a profit of 17 cents per share in the year-ago period. Revenues were flat and unexciting.

World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) definitely needs to increase the buy rates for its pay-per-view products. According to an article at Multichannel News, WWE wants to improve on the quality of its marketing and branding efforts by getting a little creative.

WWE management will utilize video-on-demand platforms to replay old content associated with branded events such as SummerSlam to enhance buy rates, as well as offering free souvenirs, depending on certain pay-per-view purchases. To me, the most interesting thing mentioned in the article by far is changing the title of an event.

Last week, World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE) reported its Q1 results. Above all, investors interested in this business look at one thing: cash flow. Why? Take a look at WWE's dividend yield.

As of Tuesday's close, the stock was yielding almost 13%! That's high. And a high dividend yield often indicates that a dividend cut may be in the offing -- the theory being that if the yield were sustainable, then buyers would rush in, and their activities would eventually lower the yield by driving the price higher.

Well, WWE hasn't had a great time of it when it comes to cash flow. I found this out when I examined the company's third quarter. Net cash from operations, unfortunately, has been overpowered at times by the dividend obligation. In fact, according to the Q4 report (pdf file), operational cash flow for 2008 dropped significantly to roughly $36 million, and the dividend obligation was over $80 million.

And that was before capital investments. That's sort of like the Undertaker throwing Mankind off the top of a steel cage. In other words, it's not pretty, folks.

DreamWorks Animation (NYSE: DWA) has done it again. The studio's new computer cartoon, Monsters Vs. Aliens, which was distributed by Viacom (NYSE: VIA), debuted in the top slot over the weekend at domestic multiplexes. According to Boxofficemojo estimates at the time of this writing, the film earned around $58 million. I think we all expected the performance in terms of rank, but I have to say that I thought the film would have taken in north of $60 million.

If you look at this very useful reference, you'll see that the opening for Monsters is relatively decent when compared to other DreamWorks Animation openings. But since both Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa had both hit the $60 million mark, I thought Monsters could do the same. An element to keep in mind is the timing. This is the first time that the studio opened one of its animated projects in March since The Road to El Dorado, and that one doesn't really count since it wasn't a CGI affair. So from that standpoint, perhaps this is a big victory.

Don't tell me you haven't noticed the rise in value of shares of World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE: WWE). The recent rally in the stock is supremely impressive. The shares closed on Thursday at $12.08. The 52-week low of $8.76 was made back in November of last year. If you look at a one-month chart, you'll see that it's been nothing but straight-up action.

Yes, my friends, the stock is Hulking up! (I love it when Hulk Hogan does that routine.) Of course, by the time this is published, maybe the shares will have experienced a sell-off, but for now, the shares are hot.