Trading is active heading into the options expiration, with 1.8 million calls and 1.9 million puts traded in the first hour, which is more than double the usual. The CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX) hit a high of 27 and was recently up .10 to 26.54, as the underlying tone of trading remains cautious. The S&P 500 is down 7 points this morning and has now suffered a two-week 4.7 percent slide. While there was no economic news to guide today’s action, tech bellwether H-P (HPQ) is down 2.2 percent and the biggest loser in the Dow Jones Industrial Average on disappointing earnings news. A 1 percent drop in crude oil is hurting the energy sector and bonds are bid as wary investors move to safety amid a murky macroeconomic outlook. Looking forward, the earnings calendar slows noticeably next week and the first economic stat of significance is a report on existing home sales Tuesday morning.