At the halfway point... Stocks moved up on a pair of positive economic reports from the Labor Department. At midday, all three indices are up over 1 percent. Initial jobless claims fell to a seasonally adjusted 512,000 last week, lower than the 523,00 expected by economists. Additionally, productivity grew 9.5 percent during the third quarter, well above forecasts of 6.4 percent. The news has investors hopeful ahead of tomorrow's monthly unemployment report. Analysts are expecting the unemployment rate to have risen to 9.9 percent during October. Strong industries include Auto Parts Manufacturers, Aerospace & Defense, and Iron & Steel, while Drug Stores, Apparel Retail, and Insurance are weaker. Microchip Technology (MCHP) is up 5%. Garmin (GRMN) and Qualcomm (QCOM) are up 4%. Sears (SHLD) and Molson Coors Brewing (TAP) are down 2%. J C Penny (JCP) and Prudential (PRU) are down 6%. The VIX is down 1.58 to 26.14 after opening at 27.28. Earlier today it hit a low of 25.88 and a high of 27.39. Options on Citigroup (C), CVS Caremark (CVS), and Cisco Systems (CSCO) have appeared on the most active list today. Over 33,000 contracts of the C December 5 Call (C LP) have changed hands. The Put/Call Volume Ratio is at 0.84 (2,340,447/2,787,296) while the Put/Call Open Interest ratio is at 0.89 (142,379,695/159,816,567). NYSE Adv/Dec 2,717/850. Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1,978/603.