Verizon (VZ) is flat at $28.71 and saw a spike about 30 minutes ago on news the phone company will begin offering iPhones in January. Options action is heating up as well, to 3X the average daily. Recent trades include 6500 Oct 31 calls at the 44-cent ask price. 10K now traded. July 29 calls are the most actives, with 14.9K on the tape. A total of 52K calls and 30K puts now changed hands. Implied volatility in VZ is up 12 percent to 21.

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

MGM shares are off 83 cents to $10.17 and options volume is 2X the average daily, with help from a buyer of 20K Jan 2012 $20 calls at $1.30 per contract. While open interest is 26K and enough to cover, this seems to add to a position from March 1 when 19K were bought at $1.30. Beyond that, the action in MGM is mixed today, with a total of 37K calls and 15K puts traded. Implied volatility is up about 10.5 percent to 72.5.

Noteworthy spread in BP, as the Jan 30 – 40 call spread recently trades at $3.40, 20000X on AMEX. Shares are up 63 cents to $27.68 and a buyer initiated this trade, according to a source on the floor. Implied volatility in BP is down about 5 percent to 78.5 after Tropical Storm Alex “remained on a track north of Mexican energy platforms and far southwest of US fields, further easing concerns in the oil market over supply disrpution,” Reuters.

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

BofA (BAC) off 26 cents to $14.98 and the BAC July 14 put is the most actively traded options contract so far today. Recent trades include a multi-exchange sweep of 4810 at the 24-cent ask price. 21K now traded and implied vols are up 4.5 percent to 46.4; as weak economic data in China, a slide on the euro, and a global equity market sell-off have conspired to stir up some bearish sentiment in the financials Tuesday morning.

Stocks are indicated sharply lower after disappointing Chinese economic data sparked a sell-off in global equity markets Tuesday. Less than an hour before the start of trading in New York, stock index futures indicate that the Dow Jones Industrial Average might suffer a triple digit loss at the open.

Markets across Asia fell after the Conference Board slashed its April leading economic indicator for the country’s economy; raising fresh concerns that world’s leading engine of economic growth is slowing faster-than-expected. The Shanghai Composite Index took a 4.3 percent hit on the news. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 2.3 percent and Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.3 percent.

Markets are broadly lower across Europe and the euro is back under fire as well. France’s CAC 40 lost 2.7 percent. UK’s FTSE and Germany’s DAX are both down more than 2 percent. The euro slid .0066 to 1.2209 against the US dollar.

Crude oil tumbled $2.10 to $76.15 a barrel and gold is flat at $1238.60 an ounce.

Bonds caught the flight-to-safety bid, as global equity markets face renewed selling pressure. The benchmark ten-year Treasury is up 8/32nd and yields now just 2.99 percent.

Attention shifts to a report on Consumer Confidence at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Economists expect to see a drop to 62 in June, down from 63.3 the month before.

Among the stocks to watch, Micron Technology (MU) shares are down nearly 5 percent after the chipmaker reported better-than-expected earnings and revenues, but forecast flat shipments going forward. Smithfield Foods (SFD) is up 4.2 percent following a story that Brazil’s JBS is in talks to buy the company. 3M (MMM) rose 1.2 percent after raising its second quarter earnings outlook. Baidu.com (BIDU) fell 3.5 percent after Google (GOOG) said it was changing the way it operates in China as it looks for ways to renew a business license.