Ford Motor (F) is up 54 cents to $7.93 and hit a new 52-week high today (chart) ahead of monthly auto sales results (Aug 3, 13:00) and as the House mulls a bill to expand the “cash for clunkers” program by $2 billion. The first $1 billion was depleted fast, as Americans dumped clunkers for new cars to capture $3500 to $4500 in government rebates. The program is expected to have boosted Detroit’s Big 3 July auto and truck sales by a significant margin. Consequently, Ford is running higher and traders are fired up about Ford Motor calls, with 120K contracts traded, or 4X the number of puts, and Aug 8 calls leading the order flow. Implied vols up to 55.5, from about 52.5 the day before.