At the halfway point... Stocks moved higher in early trading on the heels of a better-than-expected GDP reading. At midday, all three indices are up over 1 percent. The Commerce Department said this morning that GDP rose at an annual pace of 3.5 percent during the third-quarter, beating economists' estimates of 3.3 percent growth. It was the best performance in two years, and officially marks the end of the four-quarter recession. Not all news is cheery today, though, as the Labor Department reported that initial jobless claims fell much less than expected last week to a seasonally-adjusted 530,000. Strong industries include Coal, Iron & Steel, and Construction Machinery, while Waste Management Services are weaker. Freeport McMoran (FCX) and Urban Outfitters (URBN) are up 6%. Aetna (AET) and MetLife (MET) are up 5%. Avon Products (AVP) is down 3%. Smith International (SII) is down 4%. The VIX is down 2.65 to 25.26 after opening at 27.16. Earlier today it hit a low of 25.24 and a high of 27.19. Options on Citigroup (C), Alcoa (AA), and Human Genome Sciences (HGSI) have appeared on the most active list today. Over 79,000 contracts of the C January 2011 5 Call (VRN AA) have changed hands. The Put/Call Volume Ratio is at 0.84 (2,893,088/3,451,951) while the Put/Call Open Interest ratio is at 0.89 (133,430,523/150,248,362). NYSE Adv/Dec 2,896/735. Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1,950/623.