U.S. stock futures are trending higher this morning, as Wall Street looks to push the Dow Jones Industrial Average above the 23,000 milestone. Meanwhile, corporate earnings are adding to the bullish euphoria, with International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) up over 6% premarket after posting better-than-expected quarterly results last night.

Heading into the open, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up 0.4%, S&P 500 futures have risen 0.14% and Nasdaq-100 futures have added 0.07%.

On the options front, volume was both tame and bearishly slanted. Overall, some 13.1 million calls and 13.8 million puts crossed the tape yesterday, with protection seemingly on traders’ minds as the Dow battled 23,000. On the CBOE, the single-session equity put/call volume ratio dipped to 0.66, while the 10-day moving average held at the same.

Taking a closer look at Tuesday’s volume, IBM options traders were divided ahead of last night’s third-quarter earnings report — it turns out, the bulls were right. Meanwhile, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) options speculators began preparing in earnest for earnings two weeks ahead of time. Finally, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) is dipping under the weight of potential Chinese government privacy and control issues.

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)

IBM options traders were considerably cautious ahead of last night’s quarterly earnings report. The stock’s October put/call open interest ratio had ballooned to a near-term high of 1.08, with bearish puts taking the lead ahead of the report. Tuesday’s volume backed this trepidation, with puts and calls evenly split among the over 117,000 contracts traded — about seven times IBM’s average daily volume.

Call traders bravely staked a claim to the October $155 strike, where some 10,800 contracts currently reside. Turns out, they were right. IBM is up nearly 6% premarket, and is threatening to take out former resistance at $155 — as well as boosting the Dow nearly 50 points in the process.

For the quarter, IBM said it earned $3.30 per share on revenue of $19.15 billion. Analysts were expecting $2.84 per share on revenue of $18.61 billion. IBM also reiterated its full-year earnings guidance of $11.95 per share.

Facebook Inc (FB)

Social media giant Facebook will step into the earnings confessional after the close on Nov. 1 — two weeks from today. Options traders have wasted no time in prepping for the event, with volume spiking on Tuesday to 375,000 contracts, or about 1.9 times FB’s daily average.

Calls were the vehicle of choice, making up 62% of the day’s take, though this figure is still below Facebook’s average of 64% calls over the past three months.

Despite that ding to bullish sentiment, weekly Nov 1 options are slanted heavily bullish. The put/call OI ratio current rests at 0.49, with calls more than doubling puts among options most affected by Facebook’s earnings. Peak call OI for the series totals 7,400 contracts at the just overhead $177.50 strike, showing a modicum of caution from FB bulls.

By the numbers, Wall Street is looking for a profit of $1.28 per share from Facebook, with revenue expected to rise 40% year-over-year to $9.84 billion. EarningsWhispers.com places the whisper number at $1.40 per share, underscoring high expectations from the brokerage community.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA)

Investors are growing worried when it comes to Alibaba and other China-based technology stocks — most of which have been extremely hot this year. The concern grows out of talk that the Chinese government has access to all corporate data and that Beijing is pushing for a stake in some of its largest tech giants … including Alibaba.

Alibaba Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai sought to quell those concerns yesterday. Tsai said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he “… would disagree with the premise that the central government has access to all this corporate data. That’s just not true. If they want data from you, just like in the U.S., they have to have a reason.”

Tsai’s comments did little to dissuade BABA sellers, as the stock dipped 2.36% yesterday, bringing its total decline to about 4.85% in the past week.

BABA options traders, meanwhile, focused on calls amid the controversy. Volume neared 200,000 on Tuesday, with calls making up 62% of the day’s take. Looking out to the November series, BABA options traders maintain a clear bullish bias, with the put/call OI ratio resting at 0.63.

Given the company’s impressive revenue growth and projections for next year, this recent pullback may be a prime buying opportunity.

As of this writing, Joseph Hargett did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.