Hopes to double market share with better technology

Apollo (APOL) is down $4 to $68.11 and recently made a run to session lows amind increasing interesting puts. The stock is under pressure following a negative piece by Citron Research that mentioned the risk of higher detfault rates on loans, price competitions, and forthcoming restrictions on student loans. Looks like some investors are bracing for more pain to come–possibly buying the April 55 puts and selling the 45s. 27K APOL puts traded total, or more than 5X the number of calls

McGraw Hills (MHP) is up 20 cents to $18.36 and Jan 2010 calls at the 17.5 line are seeing noteworthy volume after an investor bought 40K contracts for $4.75. It was tied to shares at $18.20 (two blocks of 2.47 mln and 32K MHP shares traded for $18.25 six minutes after the calls).

St Jude Medical (STJ) is up 94 cents to $33 and 7,800 calls have traded, compared to 890 puts. The top trade of the day: 4000 April 30 calls mid-market for $3.90 on the ISE. ISEE Sentiment data suggests the trade was an opening customer buy order, perhaps adding to an existing position.

Trading in Blackrock (BX) is active and volatility remains elevated, as the stock runs 52 cents higher to $6.21. 11K calls and 3,850 contracts traded. April 7.5 calls are the most active, with 94 percent of today’s 5,450 contracts traded ask-side. Buyers are also active in the Mar 7.5 puts. Implied volatility is up to 140, from about 134 Tuesday, and at its highest levels since early December.

PMC Sierra (PMCS) is up 43 cents to $5.41 and Mar 5 calls are active ahead of a presentation later today at the Morgan Stanley Tech Conference (1:55 ET). Recent trades include a multi-exchange sweep of 5,900 contracts at the offer for 60 cents.

Computer Associates (CA) is up 8 cents to $16.48 and May calls are actively traded. Most of the volume is in the 17.5 and 20 calls, with 3,750 and 7,500 contracts traded, respectively. The activity was part of a 1X2 call ratio spread bought for 17.5 cents. Looks like a bullish play on the software maker. No news today. Co. presents at a Raymond James Institutional Conference on Mar 10

Sandisk (SNDK) share sit unchanged at $8.04 the day after the company presented at the Morgan Stanley Tech Conference. In the options market, sentiment is bullish, with 4,790 calls and 305 puts traded. Mar 8 calls are the most actives, with 3172 contracts traded.

Schwab (SCHW) is down 17 cents to $11.99 and Mar 10 puts are active following a multi-exchange sweep of nearly 10K contracts at the offer for 20 cents.

Caterpillar (CAT) is up $2.18, or 9.7 percent, to $24.65 and the best gainer in the Dow Wednesday morning. In the options market, trading is active amid increasing interest in the Aug 17.5/12.5 put spread, which has traded 4000 times. Looks like buyers paying $1.03 and $1.05. It could be closing as substantial open interest already exists.