Washington Mutual Inc. (NYSE: WM) implied volatility and put volume Elevated into 4/17 EPS.
WM, a consumer and small business bank with assets of $346 billion, is recently up $0.05 to $39.30. Keefe Bruyette says that WM "has a large share of production in Alt A products and, in our view, has a large share of its balance sheet exposed to mortgage." WM call option volume of 2,552 contracts compares to put volume of 30,969 contracts. WM April option implied volatility is at 43, May is at 27 -- above its 26-week average of 22 according to Track Data, suggesting larger price fluctuations.

Stamps.com Inc. (NASDAQ: STMP) April 20 calls & puts active at Elevated prices into EPS.
STMP, a provider of Internet based postage solutions, is recently trading at $14.44. STMP will announce EPS on April 19th. STMP April 15 calls have traded 79 times on transaction volume of 1,369 contracts above its open interest of 277 contracts. STMP April 15 puts have traded 35 times on transaction volume of 560 contracts, above its open interest of 24 contracts according to Track Data. STMP April 20 straddle is priced at $1.65 above its theoretical value of 0.95 cents, suggesting larger price risk into EPS.

Option volume leaders today are: Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN), Freeport McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX), General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) and Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) .

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

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Rivals Coca-Cola Co (KO) and PepsiCo Inc (PEP), as well as General Mills (GIS), were today's notable upgrades.

• Goldman Sachs upgraded both The Coca-Coca Co (NYSE: KO) and PepsiCo Inc (NYSE: PEP) to Buy from Neutral: The upgrade for Coca-Coca was to reflect the company's recent strong results, and Pepsi's upgrade was to reflect Gatorade's expected profit re-acceleration by the second half of 2007.

• General Mills Inc (NYSE: GIS) was upgraded to Market Perform from Underperform at BMO Capital Markets with a $58 target based on achievable outlook and absence of any negative catalysts.

OTHER UPGRADES:

• Bank of America upgraded Colgate-Palmolive Co (NYSE: CL) to Buy from Neutral with a $74 target. The firm believes Colgate's long-term growth rate can accelerate to 12-13% from 10% on margin upside.

• Prudential upgraded shares of Avon Products Inc (NYSE: AVP) to Neutral from Underweight to reflect the company's improving fundamentals; the firm believes that news over the last six months has been getting more positive.

• Buckingham upgraded Tween Brands Inc (NYSE: TWB) to Accumulate from Neutral.

• CIBC upgraded Cablevision Systems Corp (NYSE: CVC) to Buy from Hold. Raymond James raised Lithia Motors (LAD) to Strong Buy from Market Perform following its Q4 report and guidance.

• First Albany upgraded Stamps.com Inc (NASDAQ: STMP) to Buy from Neutral, with a $19 target.

• Deutsche Bank upgraded International Paper Co (NYSE: IP), Packaging Corp of America (NYSE: PKG) and Smurfit-Stone Container Corp (NASDAQ: SSCC) to Buy from Hold. The firm believes momentum is turning and backlogs and pricing are emerging from the winter doldrums stronger than expected.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).