Alcoa (AA) unofficially kicks off the third quarter earnings reporting season tomorrow and there’s not much in the recent options order flow that suggests players are bracing for a big move in the aluminum maker. 34,000 calls and 17,000 puts traded on the stock so far. Shares are up 26 cents to $9.96 and Weekly (10/14) $10 calls are the most actives. 5900 traded. October 10, 11 and 12 calls are seeing interest as well. The Weekly 10 and 9 are the most active put options in Alcoa today. The flow looks like the typical pre-earnings action, with a modest amount of optimism being reflected in the heighted call activity and the 2 percent decline in implied vols (61). The stock has performed well in recent days and is up 17.9 percent from the 52-week lows set a week ago.

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

Sprint is one of only a five losing stocks in the SP500 and option volume is triple normal pace with nearly 100K contracts trading and calls leading puts nearly 4:1. May 3.5 calls lead the most actives, with 10K trading and a vwap of 27.8cents. ISE data confirms this flow is opening customer seller intiated and with shares near 2.21 and an S&P ratings watch, it may reflect a view that Sprint will have a tough time regaining $6 highs seen this past summer.

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

Celgene (CELG) adds $3.34 to $66.29 after RBC upgraded the stock to Outperform from Sector Perform. The firm cites product pipeline, earnings growth, and valuations for the upgrade. Shares are rallying and options volume in the biotech is 6,260 calls/180 puts. Most of the action has been in smaller sizes. The top trade is a 287-lot of Oct 65 calls on the 94-cent bid. Oct 67.5 calls, which are 1.8 percent OTM and expire in 11 days, are the most actives. 2,657 traded (51 percent Ask). Nov 67.5, Oct 70, and Nov 65 calls are seeing interest as well. Implied volatility is up 3 percent, but at relatively low levels of only 33 percent. The stock has performed well lately, up 27.9 percent over the past two months and touching new 52-week highs near $67 today.