Knight/Trimark Ready to Shake Up the Options Biz

If you're a retail options investor, you may have a lot more choices coming soon via online brokers. Meanwhile, options traders Wednesday were looking to protect against a further selloff.

Knight/Trimark (NITE Quote) may finally leap into the options business before year-end, according to the online broker's chief executive.

Volatility Index Today % Change 24.46 +1.86 Source: ILX

"We have a high degree of confidence that we'll have an agreement in principle to buy an options market maker" before the end of the fourth quarter, President and CEO Ken Pasternak said on a Knight/Trimark conference call Wednesday morning. "We'd rather buy than build right now." ...