GE adds 43 cents to $15.97 and a Nov 13 – 18 bullish risk-reversal trades on the stock at 11 cents, 20000X. The position looks opening and tied to 700K shares at $15.95. GE is one of 29 Dow stocks holding gains late-Monday. Only Home Depot is under water. GE is up in five of the past six trading sessions and has added 5.9 percent in the past week. The stock seems to have found some support around $15.1 per share and today’s big combo trade in GE options might reflect expectations for continued strength through mid-Nov.

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

Bearish trading continues in SilverMetals Corp (SVM). Shares have erased early gains and are down a nickel to $8.03. Volume is 14,000 puts and 7,400 calls. Sep 7, Sep 8, Oct 5, Oct 9 and Oct 10 puts on the Vancouver-based miner are seeing interes todayt and seems to include a mix of buying and selling. SVM was the subject of substantial bearish activity Friday as well (see 8/26 color). Implied volatility is up another 18.5 percent Monday and elevated at 133. The company announced today that it will hold a meeting on Sep 23 to discuss shareholder Rights Plan. It isn’t clear if this event is the catalyst for the activity, as it lies outside of the September expiration.

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

Options on Monsanto (MON) are actively traded today on “concerns related to a ’super bug’ in corn fields” – Briefing. Shares hit a low of $67.93 in morning action and were recently down $1.56 to $69.12. Meanwhile, 7,140 calls and 7,570 puts traded in MON, which is about 3X the typical volume for mid-morning. One player seized the early weakness to buy a 1890-contract block of Oct 77.5 calls at 80 cents on ISE. Shares are up 1.2 percent since that time and the market is now 81 to 85 cents. 2,175 traded. Sep 55 and Jan 67.5 puts are the next most actives and implied volatility in Monsanto options has risen 11 percent to 39.

Allstate (ALL) adds $1.56 to $25.80 and a three-way spread is initiated on the insurance company, in which the investor bought Sep 27 calls and sold the Sep 20 – 23 put spread, paying 10 cents, 3214X. It’s probably a closing trade and was possibly opened before the weekend. The three-way traded multiple times Friday, including at 35 cents, 908X, late in the session. The stock is up 9.6 percent from a 52-week low of $23.62 set Friday and rallying with other names in the sector, as the overall damage from Irene is apparently not as bad as had been feared.