Can?t Get Off the Pot. After a dip early, the S&P 500 (.SPX) spent the morning grinding higher, but got stuck in a very narrow three-point range during the second half of trade. Given the big downside miss in the consumer confidence report, the day found no new catalysts to motivate another round of buying after two days of big gains. The net result was relatively low volatility and choppy market action, which left the VIX little changed as well. It rallied up to 26.42 early, before edging down to new found support near 25.2. With 15 min. to trade, VIX is down .21 points to 25.52. On the day, 61,000 VIX calls traded, compared to 22,000 puts.