With stocks significantly higher on Thursday amid the week’s whipsaw trading action, options traders were showing that their respective pulse rates were a tad lower. The CBOE Market Volatility index (VIX) was recently off nearly 9% to 39.23 – a still-elevated level but below the 47 level it touched on Monday.

Similarly, the equity put/call ratio was recently at 1.12, above its 50-day average of 1.06 but well off Monday’s peak that went above 1.40.

Here are a few notable options moves on Thursday:

Atmel (NASDAQ:ATML): The company’s Nov 14 calls are seeing interest, with 2,350 contracts trading vs. open interest of 4,520. Implied volatility has moved up about 10 points to 74%. The company will present at two investment conferences next month and is scheduled to report earnings in November. The stock was recently up 4% to $10.04.

Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA): Its Sep 18 calls and Sep 17 calls are attracting attention with the company’s stock up 4.6% to $12.90 ahead of its earnings report after Thursday’s closing bell.

Mylan (NASDAQ:MYL): Traders are dipping into the company’s Aug 17 puts, pushing implied volatility up 5 points to about 79%. News of Mylan’s CEO purchasing shares was disclosed after the bell on Wednesday.

News Corp. (NASDAQ:NWSA): Following the company’s earnings, Aug 15 call interest has surged, pushing implied volatility down 20 points to about 57%. The stock has jumped 17% to $16.06 on Thursday.

Ciena (NASDAQ:CIEN): The Aug 12 puts have 1,330 contracts trading vs. open interest of 840, lowering implied volatility to about 88%. The company is expected to report earnings early next month. The underlying stock is up nearly 9% to $12.47 on Thursday.