Defense firm Lockheed Martin (LMT) is scheduled to unveil its fourth-quarter earnings before the market opens tomorrow, with analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expecting a profit of $1.99 per share on sales of about $12.5 billion. LMT has a solid history in the earnings spotlight, having exceeded Wall Street's consensus expectations in each of the previous four reporting periods.

However, at least one investor is feeling anxious ahead of Thursday morning's event -- around 11 a.m. Eastern today, a collar spread crossed the tape on LMT. A block of 300 contracts traded at the equity's February 80 call at the bid price of $0.75, while a matching block of 300 contracts simultaneously traded on the February 75 put for the ask price of $1.50. With LMT trading near $77 at last check, both options are currently out of the money.

Barron's ran a piece today [subscription] on an interesting list that has some history. Back when I was at the hedge fund, we found a list of interesting stocks produced by boutique investment firm, B. Riley. This list, called Cash Rich Technology Stocks (CRTS), was a favorite among value investors in the technology sector.

According to Barron's, this list screens for tech stocks trading at or near net cash per share. More specifically, the CRTS looks for stocks where:

• Net cash for all the companies considered was at least 35% of market cap.
  
• Riley eliminated companies with market caps under $40 million or high cash-burn rates.
  
• They crossed off those its analysts believed to have business models with little chance of success.

So, which stocks came up?

Buffalo Wild Wings-(NASDAQ: BWLD) volatility decreases as BWLD rallies 14% on upside EPS. BWLD, owns, operates and franchises 439 restaurants featuring chicken wings. BWLD is recently up $9.09 to $73.93. SMH Capital reiterated its Buy rating and raised its 12-month price target to $84. SMH Capital says "The robust cash balance of over $8 a share and strong franchise partners should fuel that unit development at an annual clip of 15%- 17%." BWLD call option volume of 4,230 contracts compares to put volume of 3,057 contracts. BWLD over all option implied volatility of 38 is below its 17-week average of 41 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing risk.

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.-(NASDAQ: CMG) option implied volatility decreases as CMG rallies 18% on upside EPS. CMG, an operator of over 500 companies owned and eight franchise fast-casual Mexican restaurants, reported 1st quarter revenues increased 26.2% to $236 million. CMG is recently up $11.81 to $78.07. CIBC says "CMG delivers big Upside despite tougher comparisons...Foiling shorts." CMG June call option implied volatility is priced at 25, puts are at 33; near its 26-week average of 27, but below yesterday exaggerated level of 38-44 according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing risks. CMG puts are more expensive than calls because CMG is difficult to borrow.

Option volume leaders today are: MasterCard (NYSE: MA), Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO), Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) and Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM).

Daily Option Update is provided by Stock Options Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Note: The Daily Option Update is provided by Stock Options Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options-VIX up .02 to 10.25.

Compass Bancshares-(NASDAQ:CBSS) option volume heavy & implied volatility up to 24 from 15. CBSS is recently up $3.91 to $65.67. Compass Bancshares, a financial services firm based in Birmingham, Alabama, is up on unconfirmed chatter SunTrust-(NYSE:STI) is interested in a M&A transaction with CBSS. CBSS call option volume of 3,887 contracts compares to put volume of 999 contracts. CBSS daily average volume over the last ten business days is 424 contracts. CBSS March option implied volatility of 24 is above its 26-week average of 16 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risks.

Option volume leaders today were: Bank of America (NYSE:BAC), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX), Alcoa (NYSE:AA), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and Bidu (NASDAQ: BIDU).

U.S. stocks were mixed in trading yesterday. The Dow was down 0.01%, the NASDAQ 100 down 0.01%, the S&P 500 up 0.08%, and 10-year bond rates decreased to 4.5950%. The CBOE VIX was down .14 to 10.35. In the next twelve days, only six will be trading days.

• Redback Networks Inc.'s (NASDAQ: RBAK) call activity suggests another bid above Ericsson's (NASDAQ: ERIC) $25 bid is expected. Redback agreed to sell itself to Ericsson for $25 per share in cash, but has been recently trading at $25.58. Redback January 25 calls have traded 587 times on transaction volume of 21,094 contracts according to Track Data. Redback January 25 calls are bid .85 cents, suggesting option market makers expect a higher hostile buyout bid.
  

• Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) January option implied volatility of 24 suggests decreasing risk. Google is recently trading at $465.28, and with a January option implied volatility of 24 is at the low end of range according to Track Data, suggesting decreasing price risk.
  

• The Brink's Company's (NYSE:BCO) options have been busy on higher volatility as Brink's trades up to a new record. Brink's, a leader in security and risk management services, is recently up $1.62 to $64.49. Pirate Capital, an activist hedge fund with an 8.5% stake in the company, has been encouraging Brink's to immediately unlock long-term shareholder value. Brink's has a market cap of $3.1 billion with long term debt of $144 million, and reported 2005 revenues of $2.5 billion. Brink's call option volume of 2,797 contracts compares to put volume of 724 contracts. The January option implied volatility of 33 is above its 26-week average of 28 according to Track Data, suggesting increasing price risks.
  

Option volume leaders today were General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), Northfield Laboratories (NASDAQ:NFLD), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and Apple Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).

Options analysis provided by Paul Foster, options strategist for Theflyonthewall.com.