Options on semiconductor firm Sigma Designs are trading 4x their normal pace and dominated by bullish call flow with buyers in upside April 15 and Feb 12.5 calls. Shares are off 1.3% to 10.98 and this flow continues a trend sstarted yesterday, when buyers paid 15cents for Jan 12.5 calls to open 440 contracts.

Public Storage (PSA, news, chart, volatility), a Glendale, CA-based industrial REIT, is seeing very bearish order flow. Shares are down $3.53 to $70.55 and total options volume is running at 8 times the average daily. 9,257 puts and only 224 calls have traded. March 50 and 40 puts are the most actives, with nearly all of today’s 8,700 contracts traded offerside. Looks like disaster insurance. No news today.

Updated with More Details. BB&T (BBT, news, chart, volatility) is down $1.10 to $24.11 on news one of the bank’s subsidiaries, AFCO Credit Corporation, is acquiring the assets and operations of Cananwill. The terms weren’t disclosed. The early reaction in the options market was interesting, as it appears that a strategist bought the 25/30 call spread and sold Feb 20 puts, 3000x for 50-cents on the ISE. It looks opening since volume exceeds existing open interest. If so, it is a bullish trade the performs well if BBT rallies to $30 or more by options expiration. Significant losses are possible is shares fall. However, this investor might also be willing to buy the stock (assigned on the puts) if it falls to $20.00.

The SPDR Metals & Mining ETF (XME) is down $1.65 to $30.84 after its second largest component, Alcoa (AA), said it was laying off workers and cutting production. AA sank 7.6 percent. Sentiment in the XME seems bullish, however, as almost 11,000 Jan 32 calls have traded and only 3 percent has traded bid-side (45 percent mid-market and 52 percent offerside). Existing open interest is 300 contracts.

Novellus (NVLS, news, chart, volatility) is down 57 cents to $13.13, but sentiment in the options market seems somewhat bullish after 8,800 calls and 1,000 puts traded. The day’s trades have come in fewer than 350 contracts and ISEE sentiment data suggests that about two-thirds is opening customer buy orders. The company is presenting at a Needham & Company Growth Conference today.

Ratio Spreads! Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBBY) is down 96 cents to $25.04 and puts are actively traded ahead of earnings after the closing bell. Noteworthy trades include a substantial 1×2 put ratio spread, where a player collected 10 cents for the February 25/22.5 spread, 2,500X. The max payoff from the spread is $2.60 if shares settle at $22.5 at expiration. It starts to turn sour below $19.90.

HSBC (HBC, news, chart, volatility) options volume is running six times the average daily levels after an investor bought the Jan/March 50 puts spread 36,000 times for $4.35. With shares down a penny to $49, looks like a roll, or closing out the Januarys and taking a similar position in March. If this is a stock you follow, you might want to check the open interest tomorrow.

Bear Put Spreads! The top two trades in Estee Lauder (EL) Tuesday: 859 Feb 30 puts above the asking price for $1.82 and 859 Feb 25 puts bid-side for 47 cents. The trade was repeated more than once and open interest increased by almost 2,000 in both contracts. Looks like put spreads, possibly a play on earnings due out in early Feb.

Nokia (NOK, news, chart, volatility) is down 43 cents to $15.78 after AmTech downgraded to Neutral, citing valuations. Feb 15 puts are active. 5,159 traded, more than double existing open interest. Volume includes a multi-exchange sweep of 4,827 contracts at the offer for 95 cents.

Goodyear Tire (GT, news, chart, volatility) is down 20 cents to $7.31 and more than 5,000 Jan 7.5 calls already traded. Volume includes a multi-exchange sweep of 4,700 contracts at the offer for 40 cents. Existing interest is 3,079.