Two large blocks of Autonation (AN, news, chart, volatility) put options traded Tuesday, pushing total options volume to 15 times the average daily. 12,500 January 10 puts traded mid-market for $2.30 while 12,500 January 7.5 puts traded bidside for 50 cents. Sources on the PHLX, where the trades took place around 13:20 ET, say the action was part of a customer (diagonal) spread buy order for $1.80. With shares up 37 cents to $8.92, the investor might have initiated the spread on expectations that the stock will drift lower (but stay above $7.50 per share) through the December options expiration, then perhaps move lower from that point forward.

VMWare (VMW, news, chart, volatility) calls are seeing some action in recent trade. 6,800 have traded on the day, compared to 830 put options. With shares up 60 cents to $18.48, activity is scattered in the January and December 20 and 22.5 calls. All of the day’s volume has been in 300 contracts or less and seems to include some bullish positioning in anticipation of a move higher in VMW. No news today. The company presents at a Credit Suisse Technology Conference Thursday (along with TECD, AEIS, SLAB, and SONS).

Aeropostale (ARO, news, chart, volatility) is seeing activity ahead of an earnings report due out tomorrow after the bell. Shares have been bouncing around, falling to a new 52-week low of $12.52 before rallying to a high of $13.96. ARO was recently up 79 cents to $13.54. The stock might be reacting to comments from FBR analysts, who said today that they expect third quarter earnings to come in at the high end of guidance. Sentiment in the options market seems a bit less bullish, however, as 6,600 puts and 2,000 calls have traded. The top two trades of the day: 3,000 December 12.5 puts traded on the offer for $1.00 while 3,000 December 10 puts traded mid-market for 35 cents. With volume exceeding open interest, it looks like the opening of a bear put spread ahead of the retailer’s profit report.

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Seeing a steady flow of call activity in Talisman Energy (TLM, news, chart, volatility) Tuesday. Shares are up 72 cents, or 8.7 percent, to $9.00 on no news. Total options volume is running five times the typical levels. 11,000 contracts have traded, with 86 percent of today’s activity on the call side of the options chain. The top trade of the day is 1,975 December 10 calls traded offerside for 49 cents. The day’s other trades seems to be mix of buying and selling, and has come in orders of fewer than 500 contracts focused on the December 10, January 12.5, December 12.5, and April 10 calls.

Nexen (NXY, news, chart, volatility) shares are up nearly $5, or 28% today on a FT story that an offer from Total is in the works. (Nexen Responds). Option volume is heavy and dominated by call trading, with 33,000 on the tape so far. Last week we noted flow that may have been a tipoff, as Jan 20 call buyers were seen when shares were in the $15 to $18 range, paying 1.45 to 1.70 for 12,000 while building open interest by more than 8000 contracts that can be sold today for nearly $5. Note: Bullish trading was also seen in NXY on November 25 and 26.

Yahoo (YHOO, news, chart, volatility) calls are active. 38,000 contracts have traded, compared to 13,000 puts. Shares are up 79 cents to $11.53 and spike to a high of $12.50 about 15 minutes ago on reports Former AOL CEO Miller is trying to raise money to purchase some or all of Yahoo. Miller believes he can do a deal at $20 or $22, according to Dow Jones.

Danaher (DHR, news, chart, volatility) options volume is running four times the average daily, with 6,265 puts and 1,050 call options traded. Most of the put volume was due to a December 45/50 put spread that traded 3,000X earlier today. It traded from broker to broker for $1.45 when the stock was near $50.75. Shares of the diversified manufacturing company have since moved back to unchanged at $50.55.

Thermo Electronic (TMO, news, chart, volatility) call options are being bought. Shares are up 53 cents to $33.34 and volume in the options market is running double the usual. 3,000 calls and 680 puts have traded. All of today’s volume has come in orders of fewer than 80 contracts, with about 90 percent of today’s call activity hitting offerside. Directional sentiment based on the total order flow is 84 percent bullish.

Silver Weaton (SLW, news, chart, volatility) options volume is running 8 times the usual, with heavy interest in the March contracts. Shares of the Vancouver-based silver mining company are up 9 cents to $3.05 after silver (December) rose 31 cents to $9.20. Some traders seem to be positoining for additoinal upside. 18,200 March 5 calls have traded, compared to open interest of 8,701.56 percent of the day’s volume traded offer-side. March 2.5 puts are also active, with 5,661 traded and 61 percent hitting on the bidside. Directional sentiment based on the total order flow is 56 percent bullish.