The major indexes are struggling to maintain traction midday after existing home sales for July came in shortly after the open. The National Association of Realtors said sales last month dropped 5.9%, and almost 20% annually to 4.81 million units, marking its slowest sales pace since November 2015 -- with the exception of the drop seen at the beginning of the pandemic. At last glance, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI) is down 87 points. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite (IXIC) and S&P 500 Index (IXIC) have been waffling near their respective breakevens for most of the session as traders pore over today's batch of retail earnings. 

ON Semiconductor Corp (Nasdaq: ON) is seeing a surge in bearish options activity today. So far, 23,000 puts have been exchanged, which is 18 times the intraday average, compared to 6,689 calls, which are running triple to what's typically seen at this point. The most popular contract by far is the November 60 put, where positions are being bought to open, followed by the August 72 call, with positions being sold to open here. ON was last seen up 4.6% at $71.39, and earlier hit a record high of $74.37, with support at the 20-day moving average. 

One of the best stocks on the Nasdaq today is Bright Minds Biosciences Inc (Nasdaq: DRUG). The equity was up 222.5% at $3.15 at last check, and earlier hit a seven-month high of $3.72. DRUG also broke atop recent pressure at the 120-day moving average for the first time since mid-November. While there is no apparent driver for today's surge, the company did share its interim consolidated financial statements for the three and five months ended on June 30, 2022, and 2021 on Monday. 

One of the worst performing equities, on the other hand, is famed meme stock Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (Nasdaq: BBBY). The security is now down 26.8% to trade at $16.89 following news that activist investor Ryan Cohen will sell his entire stake in the company via his firm RC Ventures. BBBY still boasts a more than 18% year-to-date lead, after yesterday hitting a nearly six-month high of $30. 

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