The prior blog noted a massive call buyer in the <i>Ultra Short</i> Basic Materials (SMN) yesterday followed by a put purchase in the normal Materials SPDR today. That blog is viewable <b><a href="http://livevol.blogspot.com/2010/01/smn.html">HERE</a>. </b> The VIX jumps 6+ points in 3 days - so what's the breadth? Try this: XLB - Materials Select SPDR - 90,000 OTM puts purchased XRT - S&P Retail SPDR - 120,000 OTM puts purchased XLY - Consumer Discretionary SPDR - 140,000 OTM puts purchased KBW - Regional Banking ETF - 60,00 OTM puts purchased These were all done in March options and were all 600% - 1800% of the total daily average option volume done in less than 2 hours. Keep in mind, these could be hedges for long market positions. All four Company Tabs are included below (in the blog) with highlighted sections of importance. you can see trades, prices, volume, averages, options here: http://livevol.blogspot.com/2010/01/etf.html