Options Prices Righting Themselves

Here's a quick reminder to investors who were bemoaning low options prices as a bad thing: Be careful what you wish for -- you may just get it.

Late last week, the Chicago Board Options Exchange's Volatility Index, or VIX -- one of the gauges of options price levels -- began ramping up for the first time in almost six months. Before Wednesday's 100-point rally in the Dow, in fact, it had risen to 27 from 20 less than 10 days before. And even Wednesday's temporary insanity only sliced 1.6% off the VIX, which traders use to measure worry in the market. ...