Bookseller Barnes & Noble (BKS) is slated to take its turn in the earnings spotlight before the opening bell Tuesday, Aug. 24. It's not exactly business as usual for Barnes & Noble, though -- with a proxy battle waging between Chairman Leonard Riggio and activist investor Ron Burkle, there's going to be an unusually harsh media glare on the quarterly results.

Of course, it's not just the financial media who will be eager to get a glimpse at Barnes & Noble's performance. Investors will also be chomping at the bit ahead of the firm's annual meeting, because Burkle has proposed a slate of three nominees for the retailer's board, and Riggio's seat is among those up for reelection. As Reuters' Phil Wahba explained it on Friday, "the extent of the damage is likely to affect who shareholders vote for at next month's annual meeting."

If you've been watching the market at all during the past month, you probably know that "volatility" is the prevailing theme. With uncertainty on the rise among investors, one option strategist on Thursday initiated a directionally neutral bullish volatility spread on coal concern Peabody Energy (BTU).

Specifically, the trader bought to open a block of 5,000 July 41 calls, and simultaneously bought to open an equivalent number of July 38 puts. BTU was trading just shy of $40 at the time these transactions occurred, placing both options out of the money. In other words, this appears to be the initiation of a long strangle on the stock.

Last week's ratification of the Durbin Amendment by U.S. lawmakers seemed to put Visa (V) on edge, with the credit card company now facing the prospect of curtailed interchange fees. (Of course, the firm's written statement cited concerns about potential harm to consumers -- a nice touch.)

So, with the forecast looking gloomy on the home front, perhaps it's no surprise that Visa is now trying to woo another major world power. According to Japan's The Nikkei, Visa "will urge the Japanese government to use credit cards for all of its purchases, from stationery items to parts for fighter jets, saying it would save the country a lot of money."

Hartford Financial Services (NYSE: HIG) is scheduled to step into the earnings spotlight right after Tuesday's closing bell, with the insurance issue releasing its final third-quarter figures. Analysts are expecting Hartford to report a profit of $1.11 per share, according to Thomson Reuters, representing a dramatic reversal from its year-ago loss of $1.40 per share.

Hartford has a mixed history on the earnings front, with the company exceeding consensus expectations in two of the previous four reporting periods -- and falling short of Wall Street's predictions during the other two quarters. On the plus side, sector peer Lincoln National (NYSE: LNC) recently released a stronger-than-expected third-quarter report, which could bode well for Hartford.

After the opening bell, Nike (NYSE: NKE) will be reporting first-quarter earnings results. Analysts are looking for per-share results of 97 cents and revenue of $4.9 billion. Check out Michael Fowlkes' earnings preview for a complete look at this report.

On Monday, option players waved a bullish flag ahead of Nike's results, trading nearly 6,000 contracts at the October 65 strike. With the stock trading at $59.22, this front-month option (expiring in about two-and-a-half weeks) is out-of-the-money by nearly 10%. Open interest expanded from 2,696 to 7,116, meaning that most of these traded to open. The majority were in fact bought to open, trading for about 35 cents apiece.

Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is preparing for its upcoming turn in the earnings spotlight. The firm is scheduled to unveil its fiscal third-quarter results before the market opens Thursday, Sept. 17.

Ahead of the event, analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters are expecting Discover to swallow a loss of about 12 cents per share, down sharply from its year-ago profit of 37 cents per share. Sales for the period are expected to arrive at $743 million.

Earnings season is winding down, but there is still some excitement left for earnings-confessional spectators. Up tomorrow ahead of the opening bell is Deere & Co. (NYSE: DE), manufacturer of agricultural machinery.

Analysts are expecting per-share results of 57 cents, which represents a drop of 57% from the $1.32 banked in the year-earlier period. Year-over-year quarterly revenue growth, however, has not endured quite as dramatic a fall, slipping 16.7%.

In order to acclimate to this new, post-"too big to fail" era of banking, Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) is reportedly planning to close down some branches. However, the blue chip bank doesn't intend to shut down 10% of its branches, as reported earlier. Instead, said company spokesman James Mahoney, the size of the network "will come down modestly" in size during the next three- to five-year period.

At the end of June, BAC boasted 6,109 branches throughout the U.S., second only to Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC). Mahoney clarified that the bank is not being pressured by regulators to reduce its scope, and it will continue to add new branches strategically, even as it shutters some outlets.

Only two and half of the next six days will be trading days. The time value of an option's premium, which the option holder has "purchased" when paying for the option, decreases with the passage of time. With the market closed in three and half of the next six days, long option premium positions have less time to move to a profitable outcome.

Volatility Index S&P 500 Options - VIX at 44.56; 10-day moving average is 52.04.

Volatility Index NASDAQ 100 - VXN at 41.90; 10-day moving average is 49.87.

NASDAQ 100 - QQQQ overall implied volatility at 44; 26-week average is 46 according to Track Data.

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

Solarfun Power (NASDAQ: SOLF) is scheduled to report Q1 EPS on May 21.

SOLF, a manufacturer of PV cells and PV modules, closed at $22.84 Friday.

SOLF June option call implied volatility is at 123, puts are at 134; above its 26-week average of 96 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price risk.

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

Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) closed at $42.27 Thursday.

BBY is scheduled to report Q4 EPS on April 2.

RBC Capital says: "Lowering estimates; remain concerned about broader consumer spending picture."

BBY April option implied volatility of 50 is above its 26-week average of 38 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price movement.

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

Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) closed at $41.18. Wachovia Securities says, "MER is the riskiest of the remaining monocline banks. MER had gross sub-prime CDO exposure of $30.4 billion, 3.3x the group average. MER also had the worst liquidity ratio at 52%." MER April option implied volatility of 107 is above its 26-week average of 45 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk. MER implied volatility is near a level attained in October of 1987.

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

Panera Bread (NASDAQ: PNRA), an owner and franchisor of 1,115 bakery-cafes, is recently up $2.28 to $45.40.

• PNRA reported that third quarter revenue increased 35% to $276 million compared to the year ago period.
  
• Bear Stearns says: "Sales in line; guidance narrowed up versus consensus."
  
• PNRA overall option implied volatility of 37 is above its 26-week average of 34 according to Track Data, suggesting slightly larger price risks.

JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM), a global financial holding company, closed at $46.78.

• Bloomberg reported: "China may prevent foreign investors from taking control of domestic brokerages, a setback to Wall Street's ambitions to tap the world's fastest-growing stock market, people familiar with the planned rules said."
• JPM is expected to report EPS on 10/17.
  
• JPM October option implied volatility of 30 is above its 26-week average of 26 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

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

ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) implied volatility near average as oil trades above $82.

XOM closed at $91.76. Crude oil futures were up 0.79% to $82.15 according to Bloomberg. XOM overall option implied volatility of 26 is near its 26-week average of 24 according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional price fluctuations.

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) implied volatility near average as oil trades above $82.

CVX is an integrated energy company with a market cap of $198 billion and quarterly June 2007 revenue of $56 billion. CVX closed at $93.34. Crude oil futures are up 0.79% to $82.15 according to Bloomberg. CVX overall option implied volatility of 25 is near its 26-week average according to Track Data, suggesting non-directional risks.

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

Trump Entertainment Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: TRMP) calls active at higher volatility on renewed chatter:

TRMP was recently up 39 cents to $7.06 on renewed and unconfirmed takeover chatter. TRMP announced on July 2nd that its board of directors ended talks with potential acquirers. TRMP call option volume of 1,439 contracts compared to put volume of 219 contracts. TRMP September option implied volatility off 97 was above its 26-week average of 56 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

ConAgra (NYSE: CAG) October implied volatility elevated at 31 into earnings per share (EPS) announcement:

CAG confirmed previously issued EPS and sales for 2008 on Septebmer 6th. CAG is expected to report EPS in late September. CAG announced on September 5th that it would remove the flavoring chemical diacetyl in the manufacturing of its microwave popcorn. CAG call option volume of 6,815 contracts compared to put volume of 8,182 contracts. CAG October option implied volatility of 31 was above its 26-week average of 20, according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

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