Best Buy (BBY) is scheduled to unveil its fourth-quarter results Thursday morning, with analysts anticipating a profit of $1.85 per share -- little changed from the big box retailer's year-ago earnings of $1.82 per share. Best Buy has been hot-and-cold on the earnings front; during the past four quarters, the company has topped consensus bottom-line estimates twice, and fallen short on two other occasions.

Ahead of the quarterly report, one options player built a bullishly biased spread on BBY. Right after the opening bell Wednesday morning, the trader purchased 358 April 32 calls, and simultaneously sold 716 April 35 calls. In other words, two April 35 calls were sold for every one purchased April 32 call. This strategy is known as a ratio call spread, and it's typically used by traders who are bullish on the underlying equity -- but with a very specific upside target in mind.

Option volume has ramped up today on KeyCorp (KEY), with activity rising well beyond the usual level on both the call and put side of the tape. Taking a closer look at some of the major block trades on this regional banking issue, it appears that a single spread strategist is responsible for a healthy portion of this option volume.

Specifically, the trader purchased a block of 10,000 June 10 calls for $0.50 each, and simultaneously sold 10,000 June 8 puts for $0.25 each. The result was a net debit of $0.25 per pair of contracts -- which means the speculator can begin collecting profits on those purchased calls if KEY rallies beyond $10.25 by June expiration.

Shares of Patriot Coal (PCX) surged to a new annual high of $27.54 right out of the gate Tuesday, as traders cheered the energy issue's latest quarterly report.

Patriot announced that its fourth-quarter net profit dwindled 33% to $7.3 million, or 8 cents per share, from its year-ago results of $10.9 million, or 12 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter climbed 5% to $528.2 million, but selling and administrative expenses swelled 35% to $14 million. Likewise, Patriot's operating cost per ton increased 9.5% to $55.70.

In the wake of Friday's drastic pullback in the stock market, it looks like at least one trader is banking on more short-term volatility. Bright and early Monday, a spread speculator constructed a long straddle on the PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQQ), with the trader hoping to capitalize on a substantial price swing over the next several weeks.

Specifically, the trader purchased a block of 1,205 February 56 calls, and simultaneously bought a matching block of 1,205 February 56 puts. QQQQ was hovering right at $55.69 at the time of these transactions, placing both strikes very near the money.

Within the first hour of Thursday's session, call volume on Lowe's Companies (LOW) skyrocketed to about 41,000 contracts -- or nearly seven times the equity's expected daily call volume. Checking out the major block trades of the morning, it looks as though a single trader is responsible for much of this option activity.

Specifically, a block of 13,000 contracts changed hands at the ask price of $1.18 on LOW's January 2012 30-strike call, suggesting they were purchased. At the same time, a matching block of 13,000 contracts traded on the equity's January 2012 35-strike call, but these options crossed the tape at the bid price of $0.31 -- indicating they were sold.

Financial services firm State Street Corp. (STT) reported this morning that its fourth-quarter profit fell 84% to $81 million, or 16 cents per share, from its year-ago earnings of $498 million, or $1 per share. However, ex-items earnings arrived at 87 cents per share, up from 71 cents on a year-over-year basis. Revenue for the period slipped 10% to $2.04 billion, but rose 9.6% to $2.28 billion on an operating basis.

The adjusted results surpassed analysts' expectations, which called for a profit of 86 cents per share on revenue of $2.14 billion. However, traders seem less than pleased by STT's quarterly results. The stock gapped lower with the sound of Wednesday's opening bell, falling to a loss of about 4% in early trading.

Friday morning, the good folks at JPMorgan Chase (JPM) kicked off a wave of quarterly reports from the banking sector. Next week, we'll hear the latest earnings results from the likes of Citigroup (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), and Wells Fargo (WFC), just to name a few.

Of course, the biggest bank in the nation -- Bank of America (BAC) -- also has a quarterly report on deck. Ahead of next Friday's fourth-quarter release, one speculator opted to construct a high-volatility options strategy on BAC.

The shares of Nvidia (NVDA) have been tearing up the charts in 2011, thanks to a lucrative settlement with Intel (INTC) and a high-profile new partnership with ARM Holdings (ARMH). The month of January isn't quite half-over yet, but the stock is already sitting on a year-to-date gain of 51.6%.

Judging by at least one headline hitting the wires, the stock's rapid rise is making some analysts nervous. However, on Wednesday, one upbeat options trader placed a bet on additional upside from NVDA during the near term.

KB Home (KBH) is ending the week on a high note, after the homebuilder comfortably surpassed Wall Street's fiscal fourth-quarter earnings expectations. Bright and early Friday morning, KBH announced quarterly net income of $17.4 million, or 23 cents per share, on revenue of $451 million. Adjusted housing gross margins improved to 19.7% from 19%.

This marks KBH's first quarterly profit, without the aid of tax gains, in almost four years. Analysts were anticipating KBH to swallow a deficit of 17 cents per share on revenue of $441.3 million, so these results definitely qualify as a positive surprise.

A parade of retailers have stepped up Thursday morning to unveil their December sales results, including The Gap Inc. (GPS). The jeans giant confessed to an unexpected 3% decline in same-store sales for the month, falling well short of analysts' expectations for an increase of 2.6%.

Gap North America was hit hardest, with same-store sales tumbling 8% for the month. The only business segment to record a gain for December was Banana Republic North America, as same-store sales improved 1%.

Las Vegas Sands (LVS) gapped higher out of the gate Monday morning, as traders cheered the latest round of data from Macau. Casino revenues in the popular gambling destination rose 58% in 2010 to a record 188.34 billion patacas, or roughly $23.51 billion, according to the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

Revenue for the month of December ballooned 66.4% to an all-time monthly high of 18.883 billion patacas, or approximately $2.36 billion.

Shares of Anadarko Petroleum (APC) gapped higher right out of the gate Thursday morning, thanks to a report that BHP Billiton (BHP) may be eyeing the firm as a potential takeover target. According to the U.K.'s Daily Mail, BHP could be prepping an offer worth $90 per share to acquire Anadarko. However, neither company has issued a formal response to the speculation.

After jumping to a new annual high of $76.50 bright and early Thursday morning, APC is on pace to notch a weekly finish atop the $70 level for the first time since April 23. In fact, if the shares can maintain their positive momentum through Friday's close, the shares could stage their first weekly victory north of $75 since June 2008.

Call volume is unusually heavy on Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) today, with nearly 8,300 contracts changing hands during the first hour of the session -- easily outpacing the stock's average daily call activity of 6,774 contracts. However, the day's option volume isn't necessarily bullish in nature.

Nearly all of today's volume has taken place at AMD's January 2012 7.50 call, where a block of 8,000 contracts traded at the bid price -- suggesting they were most likely sold. This block appears to have been tied to a corresponding stock trade, which means we're likely seeing the initiation of a buy-write position.

Options players rushed to place their bets on The Gap (GPS) Tuesday, with volume rising to five times the norm within the first hour of trading. Taking a closer look at the major block trades, it looks as though one speculator is anticipating a major price swing from GPS during the next year.

Specifically, the trader opened a long strangle on GPS by purchasing 2,619 January 2012 20-strike calls, and simultaneously buying 2,619 January 2012 17.50 puts. This two-legged option strategy allows the trader to benefit from a drastic move in the underlying equity, regardless of whether the shares move higher or lower.

Shares of Netflix (NFLX) started Tuesday on a high note, with the shares gaining more than 1% out of the gate. Traders appear to be responding to new comments from Jim Cramer, after the host of CNBC's Mad Money offered an upbeat opinion on the stock Monday.

Specifically, Cramer is enthusiastic about Netflix's push into streaming content, and he has high expectations for future subscriber growth. The analyst also argued that the stock's valuation is actually quite reasonable, when measured against the company's long-term growth rate. For traders looking to take part in continued gains by NFLX, Cramer suggested in-the-money call options.