BP is up 28 cents to $29.96 and a noteworthy recent trade is a Aug 10 – 20 put spread, apparently bought at 60 cents, 6765X on NYSE. Looks like a new bearish position or a hedge. Meanwhile, January 25 calls are the most actives after one investor sold 10K at $10.80, and, according to a contact on the exchange floor, also bought 4000 Jan2012 32 calls at $7.45, 3300 Jan 30 calls at $8.55, and 330K shares at $27.90.

Textron shares are off 35c to $19 and notable transaction as the August $19 puts and calls trade 7,812x each. This appears to be an opening sale for a $2.80 net credit for the straddle. Textron, whose primary business is aviation, has been a sporadically mentioned as a takeover target over the past year, is slated to report earnings July 21.

Bearish activity detected in the SPDR Homebuilders Trust (XHB) after today’s New Home Sales data showed a 33 percent drop to record lows in May. XHB is showing some resilience despite two days of bleak housing numbers (Data Tuesday showed Existing Home Sales falling last month.) Shares are up 3 centrs to $15.26. Options action includes 17.3K puts, or 2X the recent average daily. Players are focused on Sep 15, Aug 15, and Aug 16 put options. Implied volatility is up about 5 percent to 36 (compared to a 52-week high and low of 53.5 and 24.)

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

Barrick Gold shares are off 75c to $43.97 and notable trade in the Jan. $60 call as 10,000 lot sold at the 81c bid. Open interest is sufficient to cover and this might be a quick liquidation of a position established on 6/21 when a 10,000 lot translated into new open interest. The stock had failed to make a new high on 6/18 when gold hit a contract high. Weakness in the metal is weighing across the sector today.

Research in Motion shares are up 30c to $59 and notable volume in the July $75 calls as block of 14,000 (now total of 18,000) have traded in what looks like opening purchase at 15c. The mobile device maker is set report earnings on Thursday after the close. The stock has averaged a 12% move following the prior four quarterly reports but these calls are a full 25% out-of-the-money.

Early indications point to gains on Wall Street Wednesday morning ahead of a report on New Home Sales and the Federal Reserve’s rate announcement. Forty-five minutes before the start of trading in New York, stock index futures indicate that the Dow Jones Industrial Average might add 45 or 50 points at the open.

With little news to guide the morning action, attention will shift to New Home Sales numbers at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. Economists expect the report to show a decline to an annualized rate of only 430K homes in May, down from 504K the month before.

From there, market action might take a wait-and-see tone ahead of the Federal Reserve’s rate announcement at 14:15. No changes in rates are expected and investors will be looking over the text to see if the Fed has removed the phrase “extended period of time” with respect to the low interest rate policy. However, given recent inflation and other economic news, no major changes are expected.

Bonds have slipped into quiet trading ahead of the Fed. The benchmark ten-year Treasury is flat and yields 3.16 percent. The dollar slipped .34 to 90.13 against the Japanese yen. The euro edged up .0013 to 1.2275 against the buck.

Overseas trading is lackluster after the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 149 points on disappointing Existing Home Sales numbers Tuesday. Japan’s Nikkei lost 1.9 percent. Major averages are modestly lower across Europe.

Commodities are also seeing sluggish action. Crude oil slipped 60 cents to $77.25 a barrel. Gold is down $1.60 to $1239.20 an ounce.

Among the stocks to watch, BP shares rose 2 percent after the oil giant put Bob Dudley, now CEO and President of BP’s Gulf Coast Restoration Organization, in charge of Gulf clean up efforts. Rite Aid (RAD) rose 9 percent after reporting a 9-cent per share quarterly loss, which was 5 cents better than expected. Carmax (KMX) gained 9.7 percent after reporting earnings of 44 cents per share and 11 cents better than Street views. Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBBY) and Nike (NKE) might see action today, ahead of earnings after market.

Some less actively traded names seeing bullish order flow: Accenture (ACN), Smith and Wesson (SWHC), Community Health (CYH) Bearish order flow: Tyson (TSN), Earthlink (ELNK), Collective Brands (PSS) Post-Earnings: Walgreen’s (WAG), Carnival Cruise (CCL) Pre-Earnings: Adobe (ADBE) Ex-div: Chubb (CB)