Some less actively traded names seeing bullish order flow: Apollo Inv. (AINV), Lihir Gold Limited (LIHR), Maiden Holdings (MHLD). Bearish order flow: Xyratex (XRTX), Supertex (SUPX), Conveo (CVO). Post Earnings Activity: None. Pre-Earnings Activity: Kroger (KR), Autozone (AZO), Pep Boy (PBY). Ex-Div Activity: Traveler’s (TRV), Reynold’s (RAI), Occidental Pete (OXY), Chicago Merc (CME), PPL, and Constellation Energy (CEG).

*Scanning all single-stocks subject to 2500 contracts minimum call or put volume

CF Industries shares are up $1.75 to $90.30 on general strength in the Ag names following an upgrade of Potash. CF option volume is 2x daily average with notable trades being in the Jan. $65 and $75 puts; which have traded 6,050 and 3,072 contracts, respectively. Looks like seller in the $65s and buying in the $75 to establish the 1×2 ratio for a 25c net debit. The Jan. $100 call saw a 8,300 contract block purchase. CF continues to be in the midst of a three way takeover battle in which Agrium (AGU) is bidding for CF and CF is bidding for Terra (TRA).

Shares of NutriSystem spike to a new 52w high of $28.32 just after 11:40ET on news of a venture with Sam’s Club. Within seconds of the story hitting the wire, call buyers began lifting Dec 30 calls for 15cents- with 4500 now on the tape, 5x the normal daily call volume in the name.

*Scanning all single-stocks subject to 2500 contracts minimum call or put volume

Research In Motion (RIMM) is up $1.73 to $60.48 after the company announced a new distribution deal for Blackberries in China. Digital China, a Hong Kong-listed tech company, weill distribute RIM’s Blackberry handsets. Shares are up and recent trades include 25K Jan 80 calls, bought at 43 cents and tied to a block of 225K RIMM shares at $60.11. This might double up on a position highlighted Friday, when a player bought-to-open 25K Jan 80 calls at 30 cents apiece.

Corning (GLW) shares broke to 52 week highs and more than 24,000 calls traded Friday, 4X average volume, with puts also trading 2X average volume at 9,000. The largest spread was a very bullish risk reversal in February as 8,600 of the $21 calls were bought at the 30 cent offer and 3,000 of the $18 puts were sold at $1.05, looking for a strong Q4 from the LCD screen maker. January $17.50 calls were also bought in large blocks at the offer throughout the day. Corning will present at the Barclays Tech Conference on December 9th, and the bullish February action is likely in anticipation of a February 5th Investor Meeting.

Stocks are set to open lower in cautious trading ahead of a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. Thirty minutes before the start of trading in New York, index futures suggest that both the Dow and the NASDAQ will start the week with modest losses.

The major averages might move in a tight range ahead of Bernanke’s speech at 1:00 p.m. eastern time. The head of the Fed speaks to the Economic Club of Washington and could potentially signal that the Federal Reserve will become more vigilant as the economy improves.

Indeed, rate expectations have shifted somewhat since data released Friday showed the US economy losing 11,000 jobs in November, far less than the 120,000 loss economists had expected.

The dollar has been gaining ground on the euro since that time. After falling back to 1.49 Friday, the euro is off another .0051 to 1.48 this morning. The dollar edged down .25 to 90 against the Japanese yen.

Bonds are seeing modest gains after big losses Friday. The benchmark ten-year Treasury is up 2/32nd and yields 3.46 percent.

Dollar strength and euro weakness has put some pressure on crude and gold. Crude oil is down .28 to $75.09. After tumbling more than $60 Friday, gold is down another $23.5 to $1146 an ounce.

Among the stocks to watch, NY Community Bancorp (NYB) is up 8.9 percent on news the bank bought assets in connection with assets seized from AmTrust Financial. McDermott (MDR) is up 8 percent on news it plans to separate into two companies. Akamai (AKAM) gained 4 percent after the company raised its fourth quarter earnings guidance. American Express (AXP) is higher after BofA/Merrill said the credit card company, as well as Capital One (COF) and Discover (DFS), will benefit from improving credit trends. AMD rose 3.5 percent after Bernstein upgraded shares to Outperform. Bare Escentuals (BARE) lost 5 percent after Goldman Sachs downgraded to Sell.