Stocks see modest gains, in quiet trade. Volume slows ahead of the weekend. Read more.

Tenaris (TS), a Luxembourg-based steel and iron company, is seeing relative strength and bullish order flow. Shares are up 44 cents to $18.53, even as steel stocks (X, AKS, STLD, MT) fall on Friday. In the options market, TS options volume is running at 2X the average daily levels. 4000 calls and only 74 puts traded on the day. Investors are showing interest in March 17.5 and 20 call options ahead of an investor meeting on Mar 19, the day before the March options come off the board.

Unum Group (UNM) is up 4 cents to $10.88 and options volume is 6X the normal after an investor sold 20K June 15 calls for 60 cents. Looks like an opening seller, perhaps writing calls against shares. A block of 40K UNM shares traded for $10.84 about 5 minutes after the calls.

Palm (PALM) is up 21 cents to $8.07 and options volume is running 2X the typical levels on renewed buyout chatter (fly on the wall). Sentiment is bullish, with 21,000 calls and 17,000 puts traded. While Mar 7.5 puts are the most actives, it appears that the volume is dominated by sellers. 78 percent of the 9,570 contracts traded hit bid-side. August 7.5 puts are also active. The call volume is scattered across March and April with strike prices ranging from 7.5 to 12.5 and seems to include a significant amount of premium buying.

Large blocks of Ivanhoe Mines (IVN) calls traded on the AMEX today. 22,000 contracts traded total, compared to 200 puts. With shares down 45 cents to $4.36, the activity included 10,000 April 5s sold for 50 cents, 5000 June 5 calls bought for $1.05 and 5000 Sept 5 calls bought for $1.30. The activity appears to be a roll, perhaps closing positions opened in late-Feb when IVN saw heavy trading and open interest in April 5 calls increased from 0 to 23K over the course of 3 days.

Data Domain (DDUP) is seeing a second day of bearish flow. Yesterday, with shares around $13, our scans picked up increasing activity in April 12.5 puts. Shares are down $1.60 to $11.40 today and 5,700 puts traded, compared to 640 calls. Activity is scattered across Mar, Apr, and Jun puts at the $10 and $12.5 strikes. Implied vols up to 89, from about 73 the day before.

Large roll in the iShares China Fund as a customer bought 25000 March – April 26 call spreads for 1.00 on the Amex. Looks to close March and extend a long view on the the FXI for a month.

American Express (AXP) is down 8.9 percent and the biggest loser in the Dow midday Friday amid broader weakness in the credit card names (V, MA, COF, DFS). Sentiment in the options market seems somewhat bullish, however, after 15K AXP calls and 7,300 puts traded. Looks like buyers are showing interest in AXP March 10 and April 15 calls.

AMD (AMD) April 3 calls ahve seen a flurry of activity in recent trades, including 10K at the offer for 15 cents on the PHLX. 16.6K now traded, compared to open interest of 17.8K.