Gold futures are extending yesterday's rebound from 10-month lows, which is boding well for commodity concerns like Goldcorp Inc. (GG - 35.55). What's more, it looks like the options crowd is taking notice, with roughly 13,000 GG calls traded thus far -- almost twice its average intraday call volume, and close to three times the number of GG puts exchanged.

Attracting the most attention has been the out-of-the-money June 41 call, which has seen more than 2,700 contracts change hands on open interest of fewer than 1,400 contracts, pointing to an influx of new positions. However, the bulk of the calls have crossed between the bid and ask prices, making it difficult to discern whether they were bought or sold.

In any event, today's affinity for short-term calls is just more of the same for GG. In fact, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.50 indicates that calls double their put counterparts among options expiring within three months. What's more, this ratio sits just two percentage points shy of a 52-week low, suggesting near-term options players have rarely been more call-heavy during the past year.

Echoing that sentiment, the security sports 10 "strong buys" and four "buy ratings, compared to just three "holds" and not a single "sell" recommendation. However, while the shares of GG have tacked on 2.3% to linger in the $35.55 region today, the stock is still staring up at its 20-day moving average. This trendline, along with its 10-day counterpart, has ushered GG to a year-to-date loss of 21.4%. Should the equity run into a wall and extend its recent journey into multi-year-low territory, a round of downgrades could exacerbate GG's slide.

Shares of China-based Renren Inc. (RENN - 5.47) have plummeted today, after sector peer Facebook (FB - 41.02) made its widely anticipated market debut. However, call players seem to have shrugged off the decline, as roughly 28,000 of these contracts have changed hands, which is four times the equity's expected intraday volume. Nearly 11,700 calls have crossed at the near-the-money May 6 strike, and are equally divided between the ask and bid prices, signaling a mix of buyer- and seller-fueled activity. This option currently carries open interest of 11,655 contracts, so it cannot be said with certainty whether new last-minute positions are being opened here. However, with the stock's current decline -- and the fact that front-month expiration is today -- it's possible that some traders are closing their positions.

This affinity for calls over puts is business as usual for the social networking platform. The 50-day International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) call/put volume ratio sits at 2.69, confirming that calls have more than doubled puts during the past few months. This ratio registers in the 56th annual percentile, indicating that traders have been scooping up bullish options over bearish at a slightly accelerated clip.

However, it should be mentioned that short interest on the Internet issue soared by almost 39% during the last two reporting periods, and now makes up a respectable 7% of RENN's float. This raises the possibility that short sellers looking to hedge their positions could be contributing to some of the aforementioned buy-to-open call volume.

From a technical perspective, RENN has advanced more than 54% year-to-date, and has bested the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by roughly 26% during the past 60 days. On the charts, the stock will likely close a second straight week below its 10-week moving average, which had previously served as support since mid-January.

In the afternoon hours of trading, RENN is off more than 12% to linger in the $5.47 area.

Defying the expectations of many, Zynga Inc. (ZNGA - 7.17) has not benefitted from the Facebook (FB - 38.69) hubbub today but has instead taken a header. In midday trading, shares of the social-gaming czar are down 13% at a new all-time low.

Traders are currently restricted from shorting ZNGA shares, so bearish investors wanting to play the stock have to get a little creative. One way to do this is through a so-called "synthetic short stock," which combines a long put and a short call to build a reward/risk profile that is very similar to shorting the stock outright.

Around 10:40 a.m. today, with the stock around $8.30, investors evidently bought a block of 700 June 8 puts at the ask price of 85 cents per contract and simultaneously sold a block of 700 June 9 calls below the bid price, at 55 cents per contract. The net debit for the spread trade was 30 cents per spread when the trade was executed; the spread is currently priced at $5.00, meaning they could now sell it to close for a tidy profit (assuming any willing buyers could be found!)

The slope of the profit/loss chart for this position looks just like a shorted stock until expiration, at which point losses are unlimited above the 9 strike and gains are capped down to zero once the stock trades below $7.70 (the put strike less the debit paid). Between the 8 and 9 strikes, losses are capped at the initial debit of 30 cents.

While the intent behind this trade won't be clear until we see how open interest changes on Monday, it appears as though these ZNGA bears may have found a way to beat the system. Earnings won't be a factor for this play, as June options expire weeks before the company's next reporting date in late July.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI - 12,410.78) is down 32 points, or 0.3%, as investors have temporarily shifted their focus from the debt-laden euro zone to Facebook's (FB) market debut. Elsewhere, the CBOE Market Volatility Index (VIX - 24.20) is down 0.3 point, or 1.2%.

Here are a few noteworthy stats at midday:

1. The equity put/call volume ratio across all nine options exchanges stands at 1.19, with 4.5 million puts crossing the tape so far today, versus 3.7 million calls.
2. Among the securities with put-skewed activity is Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK - 29.33), which is down about 15.6% today. The software issue was hit with a pair of price-target cuts at Jefferies and MKM after reporting weak current-quarter guidance.
3. The put/call volume ratio on the iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) checks in at 0.71, with calls comfortably outstripping puts.
4. The Nasdaq has 103 securities at new annual lows, compared to just four at new highs.
5. Among those stocks at fresh annual lows is Aruba Networks (ARUN - 14.30), which has lost about 6.4% in intraday trading. The networking provider sank to a new multi-year low of $14.10 and received several price-target cuts after revealing disappointing quarterly revenue projections.

Call players took a shine to Best Buy., Inc. (BBY - 18.17) on Thursday, despite the stock receiving a price-target cut to $23 from $27 at RBC Capital Markets. Approximately 26,000 of these options were exchanged, which was four times the norm. Most popular was the out-of-the-money June 20 strike, where north of 7,300 calls were traded -- the majority of them at the ask price, suggesting they were bought. This strike saw an overnight rise in open interest of 6,128 contracts, pointing to an influx of new positions. This option is now home to open interest of 8,666 contracts. By purchasing these calls to open, speculators are betting on the stock to surmount $20 by June expiration.

This rise in call volume is unusual for the electronics retailer. BBY sports a Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.13, indicating that puts outnumber calls among options set to expire in three months. This ratio registers in the 84th percentile of its annual range, meaning that traders have been more put-heavy toward the stock just 16% of the time during the past 12 months.

What's more, short interest on BBY jumped by over 18% during the last two reporting periods, and now accounts for nearly 20% of the equity's available float -- or nine days' worth of pent-up buying demand, at the stock's average pace of trading. This implies that some of yesterday's call volume could be the work of short sellers looking to hedge their bearish bets.

On the technical front, BBY has shed a whopping 42% on a year-over-year basis, and has lagged the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 27% during the past 40 sessions. A look at the charts shows that the stock remains pinned beneath its 10-month moving average, which has acted as resistance since December 2010. In fact, the equity tagged a new multi-year low of $17.84 earlier in the session.

At last check, BBY is down about 1.4% to hover at $18.17, after Barclays lowered its price target to $21 from $25. The company is slated to reveal quarterly earnings on Tuesday, May 22.