Credit card behemoth Visa Inc. (V - 107.86) is scheduled to unveil its fiscal first-quarter earnings after the closing bell, and has surpassed analysts' bottom-line estimates in each of the past four quarters. This may have sparked an uptick in bullish options activity on the stock today, as approximately 18,000 calls have crossed the tape so far, doubling the equity's expected intraday volume.

The favorite among traders has been the out-of-the-money March 110 strike, where more than 6,500 calls have changed hands. However, the majority of them crossed between the ask and bid prices, making it hard to discern whether they were bought or sold. Also, this strike is currently home to peak call open interest of 6,895 contracts, so it cannot be assumed that new positions are being initiated at this strike.

Examining V's technical performance, the equity is up around 6% so far this year, and has outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by close to 6% during the past 60 sessions. On the charts, the stock has been guided steadily higher by double-barreled support at its 10-week and 20-week moving averages since early April.

It also bears mentioning that Stifel Nicolaus raised its price target for V to $125 from $109 this morning. At last check, the equity is up about 0.8% and is trading at $107.86.

Investors have taken a shine to Salesforce.com (CRM - 122.80) calls today, as roughly 25,000 of these options have changed hands so far, which is four times above the norm. Nearly 8,000 calls have been traded at the out-of-the-money March 125 strike -- most of them between the ask and bid prices, making it unclear as to whether they're being bought or sold. This option currently holds open interest of just 3,735 contracts, signaling an influx of new positions.

Meanwhile, a block of 5,292 calls was sold at the February 120 strike, while an equal number of calls were bought at the February 135 strike. This suggests that one trader has constructed a bear call spread on CRM. Essentially, the best-case scenario is for the stock to finish at or below $120 by the time front-month options expire -- rendering both options worthless, and enabling him to pocket the maximum profit of $4.29 (net credit received). On the other hand, his potential risk is limited to $10.71, or the difference between the strike prices minus the net credit.

However, calls have been the options of choice for CRM prior to today's session. The Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) checks in at 0.74, indicating that calls comfortably outnumber puts among options set to expire within three months. In fact, this ratio sits just six percentage points above an annual nadir, confirming that near-term options players have rarely been more bullishly aligned toward the stock over the past year.

Meanwhile, short interest on the software security climbed by 4.06% during the most recent reporting period, and now accounts for a lofty 11.47% of CRM's float. This implies that short sellers looking to hedge their bearish bets may be responsible for some of the recent call volume.

From a technical standpoint, CRM has added almost 21% year-to-date, and has outpaced the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by more than 12% during the past 20 sessions. On the charts, the stock appears to be testing resistance at its 32-week moving average, a trendline it has not surmounted since late October.

In the afternoon hours of the session, CRM remains nearly flat with yesterday's close of $122.80.

Ahead of tomorrow's turn in the earnings confessional, CBOE Holdings, Inc. (CBOE - 26.01) received a price-target cut to $21 from $27 -- as well as a downgrade to "underperform" from "market perform" -- at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods early this morning. However, call players appear to have shrugged off the analyst attention, as well as the company's plans to merge two major divisions. Nearly 4,100 of these options have crossed the tape so far, reflecting four times the equity's expected intraday volume. Most popular among investors is the at-the-money February 26 strike, where at least 3,279 calls have been traded -- about three-quarters of them at the bid price, pointing to seller-fueled volume. Currently, this option is home to peak call open interest of 8,249 contracts, so it's difficult to say with certainty whether new positions are being opened here today.

Either way, this preference for CBOE calls over puts is par for the course. The Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) stands at 0.26, confirming that calls nearly quadruple puts among options expiring within three months. In fact, this ratio ranks in only the 14th percentile of its annual range, which means that near-term options players have been more call-heavy toward the stock just 14% of the time over the past year.

Furthermore, data from the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) reveals a 10-day call/put volume ratio of 4.29 for the exchange operator. In other words, calls bought to open have more than quadrupled puts during the past couple of weeks. This ratio registers in the 63rd annual percentile, indicating that traders have been buying bullish options over bearish at an accelerated clip.

However, short interest on CBOE shot up by 23.07% during the most recent reporting period, suggesting that some of the recent call volume could be attributed to short sellers looking to hedge their bets. Still, the equity's bearish camp is far from crowded, as these shorted shares make up a modest 2.28% of the stock's float.

On the technical front, CBOE has underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by more than 8% during the past 60 sessions. Even so, a look at the charts shows that the stock is still on pace to close a second consecutive week atop its 10-week moving average, which had served as a ceiling over the equity since mid-December.

It should also be noted that CBOE is scheduled to release its fourth-quarter earnings before tomorrow's opening bell, and has bested analysts' consensus bottom-line estimates in all of the past four quarters. At last check, however, CBOE is down about 2.7% to hover in the $26.01 area.

SolarWinds (SWI - 36.47) reported an adjusted, fourth-quarter profit of 29 cents on revenue of $55.6 million before Tuesday's opening bell -- toppling analysts' estimates, and sending the shares to a record high. This upbeat news likely sparked yesterday's flurry of call activity on the tech concern, as roughly 10,000 of these options were exchanged, which was more than triple the equity's average daily volume. Close to 2,800 calls were traded at the out-of-the-money February 37.50 strike -- over half of them at the ask price, suggesting they were bought. Meanwhile, open interest on this option rose by 1,208 overnight, pointing to an influx of new positions. This call is now home to open interest of 2,846 contracts. By purchasing these calls to open, speculators are expecting SWI to rally north of the $37.50 mark by front-month expiration.

This upswing in call volume is part of an ongoing trend for SWI. The Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) rests at 0.61, confirming that calls nearly double puts among options set to expire within three months. This ratio ranks in only the 35th percentile of its annual range, which means that short-term options players have been more bullishly aligned toward the stock just 35% of the time over the past 12 months.

What's more, SWI's 10-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) call/put volume ratio sits at 7.32, indicating that calls bought to open have outnumbered puts by more than seven to one during the last two weeks. This ratio registers in the 84th annual percentile, signaling that traders have been purchasing bullish options over bearish at a faster-than-usual clip.

However, it should be noted that short interest on SWI increased by 8.19% during the most recent reporting period, and now accounts for a healthy 8.79% of the equity's float. This raises the possibility that some of the recent call activity is the work of short sellers looking to hedge their bearish bets.

Technically speaking, SWI has gained more than 30% year-to-date, and has bested the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 17.5% during the past 20 sessions. On the charts, the stock continues to be ushered higher by its 10-day moving average, which has acted as support for more than a month. In fact, as alluded to earlier, SWI tagged an all-time high of $37.37 during yesterday's session.

At last check, the stock is up 0.3% and is trading at $36.47.

Delivery concern United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS - 76.95) has tacked on roughly 5.6% since the start of the year, tagging a new multi-year high of $77.55 just yesterday. However, judging by recent options activity, it looks like one strategist is expecting the shares to take a breather over the next several weeks.

In the wake of Tuesday's session, the March 75 strike saw call and put open interest increase by 4,633 contracts and 3,548 contracts, respectively. Digging deeper, we find that most of the action traded in one fell swoop, with symmetrical blocks of 2,550 calls and puts exchanged. Plus, the blocks changed hands at the bid price -- the calls for $2.54, and the puts for 79 cents -- suggesting they were sold. In other words, the strategist constructed a short straddle on UPS for a net credit of $3.33 per pair of contracts.

By selling calls and puts at the same strike, the trader is expecting UPS to remain in the $75 neighborhood through options expiration. In fact, as long as the stock finishes between the $71.67 level (strike minus net credit) and the $78.33 level (strike plus net credit), the investor will retain at least some of the initial premium received. However, should UPS extend its recent rally, the trader's losses are theoretically unlimited on the upside, and significant on the downside.

From a broader sentiment standpoint, most options traders are bullishly biased toward UPS. The stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sits at 4.83 -- in the 92nd percentile of its annual range. Or, simply put, options buyers have initiated bullish bets over bearish at a faster-than-usual pace during the past two weeks.

At last look, UPS has surrendered 0.4% to explore the $76.95 vicinity. From a longer-term perspective, the equity's Relative Strength Index (RSI) sits at a lofty 67 -- on the cusp of overbought territory, suggesting a short-term pullback could, in fact, be in the cards.