U.S. stock futures are trading below fair value ahead of the long holiday weekend. Among specific equities in the spotlight today are aerospace company Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT), biotech stock Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:AERI), and German lender Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE:DB). Here's a quick look at what's driving LMT, AERI, and DB.

• LMT is slumping in pre-market trading, falling 1.9%, after President-elect Donald Trump tweeted he has approached Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) for prices on a jet similar to the Lockheed's F-35 -- the second time this month he's criticized the company on Twitter. While the stock has cooled since hitting an all-time high of $269.90 earlier this month, it remains 16.4% higher year-to-date, and comfortably above its rising 200-day moving average at $252.80. Should the Trump-induced headwinds fall to the wayside and Lockheed Martin Corporation extend its long-term rally, an unwinding of near-term put positions could provide an extra boost. For example, LMT's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) is 1.66, putting it in the high 87th annual percentile. 
  
  
• AERI has given back 6.5% in electronic trading, after the company announced the manufacturing facility for its glaucoma treatment, Rhopressa, won't be ready for a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection. Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc will now have to resubmit its new drug application sometime next year. Looking back, the stock enjoyed a huge bull gap back in September, helping guide it to record highs and a nearly 53% year-to-date advance, last seen at $37.20. Considering these gains, it's not surprising to see a huge bullish bias among analysts. At the moment, all nine brokerage firms covering AERI recommend buying the stock.  
  
  
• DB is on the rise this morning, on news the company settled with the Justice Department for $7.2 billion -- far below what was expected. The stock has performed well recently, jumping almost 66% since its late-September all-time low of $11.19 to trade at $18.54. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank AG options traders have been buying to open calls over puts. This is according to DB's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.07 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) -- a reading that lands in the 84th annual percentile. 

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Analysts are weighing in on media stock Time Warner Inc (NYSE:TWX), uniform specialist Cintas Corporation (NASDAQ:CTAS), and wealth management firm Sun Life Financial Inc (NYSE:SLF). Here's a quick roundup of today's bearish brokerage notes on TWX, CTAS, and SLF.

• TWX was downgraded to "hold" from "buy" at Brean Capital this morning. At $96.46, Time Warner Inc is up more than 49% in 2016, and has been climbing steadily since late October, powered by a merger agreement. Regardless, near-term options traders have reached a put-heavy extreme in their approach to TWX. The stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.56 is seated at an annual high. 
  
  
• CTAS is set to slide 2.6% at the open, after the company reported quarterly earnings that just missed estimates on the Street. RBC chimed in with a price-target cut to $115 from $118 -- a discount to last night's close of $120.09. Cintas Corporation has been a strong performer this year, tacking on 50% since its January low, and hitting a record high of $122.21 last week. Still, the shares could be due for a breather, considering their 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 68 is verging on overbought territory.


• SLF received a downgrade to "hold" from "buy" at Argus, which cited concerns over the firm's core business, tightening margins, and a stronger Canadian dollar. At $38.65, Sun Life Financial Inc isn't far off its late-November eight-year high of $39.87. The shares have spent the past month atop a strong foothold in the $38-$38.50 region, which also corresponds with their 2014 highs. And short-term traders have largely held out high hopes, based on SLF's SOIR of 0.16 -- just 2 percentage points from a 12-month low.

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Analysts are weighing in on drugmaker Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:SGYP), shoe stock Skechers USA Inc (NYSE:SKX), and mobile gaming specialist Zynga Inc (NASDAQ:ZNGA). Here's a quick roundup of today's bullish brokerage notes on SGYP, SKX, and ZNGA.

• SGYP is up 9% at $5.17 after the company announced positive results in a phase 3 trial of its irritable bowel syndrome treatment, plecanatide. As a result, Rodman & Renshaw raised its price target by $1 to $17, while BTIG reiterated its "buy" rating and called out Synergy Pharmaceuticals Inc as a potential takeover target, saying, "We remain positive on SGYP shares, and believe larger pharma companies could see value in acquiring the Co. for plecanatide." Despite a nearly 10% year-to-date loss, SGYP has been enjoying solid support from its 160-day moving average in recent months. But today's action could have short sellers continuing their rush to the exits. These bearish bets fell by more than 15% during the most recent reporting period, but still account for 16% of the stock's available float, or more than two weeks' worth of buying power, at SGYP's average daily volume.
  
  
• An upgrade to "buy" from "neutral" at Monness Crespi Hardt has SKX up 2.3% at $24.60, paring its 2016 losses to 18.6%. The stock's most recent rally attempt was rejected earlier this month at the 50-week moving average -- a trendline that has kept the shares' gains in check for more than a year. Nonetheless, SKX calls continue to be popular among near-term options traders, per Skechers USA Inc's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.52 -- lower than 90% of the past year's readings.
  
  
• ZNGA is 1.6% higher at $2.60 after Mizuho initiated coverage on the stock with an upbeat "buy" rating and $3.50 price target -- representing a level the shares haven't seen since 2014. The stock could be due for a bounce, with its 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 30 just touching oversold territory. But options traders aren't holding their collective breath. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), Zynga Inc's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.21 ranks in the bearishly skewed 89th percentile of its annual range.

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After a massive post-election rally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has been much quieter than usual over the past two sessions -- the quietest it's been in years, in fact. On Wednesday, the index traded in its narrowest range since July 2014 (on a percentage basis), and Thursday was another session in which the Dow traded in a span of less than 0.3%. According to data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, these periods of eerily quiet trading could be a bearish signal for the blue-chip barometer.

Below are all the times these signals have sounded since 2012, sorted by the intraday range. The narrowest day was Dec. 30, 2013, with the index moving just 0.2% intraday. As you can see, this past Wednesday and Thursday's intraday ranges rank third and seventh, respectively.

Historically, these periods have proved foreboding for the Dow. Going back to 2012, the index has been negative across the board, on average, going out one month after a signal. Plus, the odds of the Dow being positive at any of those points weren't even a coin flip.

Comparing anytime returns since 2012, the Dow's odds of being higher were greater than a coin flip, going as high as 64.1% one month out. What's more, the Dow averages a one-month anytime gain of 0.72%, compared to a one-month post-signal loss of 0.72%. The range-bound behavior tends to beget more range-bound behavior for the Dow, too, as you can see from the the lower-than-usual standard deviation.

If history is any indicator, the Dow's dream of taking out the 20,000 level could be postponed in the short term. However, the index is still on pace for its seventh straight weekly win -- the longest since November 2014. And, as Schaeffer's Senior V.P. of Research Todd Salamone recently advised, "If you are a short-term trader, be open to trades on both the short and long side of the market. If you are a long-term investor, do not disturb your bullish positions."


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Retracement and Fibonacci levels can provide technical traders with a leg up on the competition. Identifying these key areas can help speculators locate inflection points at which stocks pivot from one direction to another. At the same time, a stock that breaches one of these key technical levels could be signaling more downside ahead. This may be the case for Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ:FTNT).

FTNT has performed poorly on the charts. While the broader market is up sharply in 2016, the cybersecurity stock has surrendered over 6.5% of its value, despite being up 1.8% today at $29.13. Fortinet's chart has been especially ugly since the shares hit an annual high of $37.48 in early October, as they've pulled back 22%.

Moreover, there are signs things could get worse. For the past few months, FTNT has been consolidating atop its 23.6% Fibonacci retracement of its August 2015 high and February 2016 low. However, the stock is currently poised to breach the technical level on a weekly basis, possibly signaling the start of a new leg lower.

If FTNT makes that move, look out below. Optimism across the Street is extremely high toward the shares -- an unwinding of which could exacerbate selling pressure. For example, two-thirds of analysts rate the stock a "buy" or better, without a single "sell" opinion on the books. This leaves the door wide open for downgrades.

Likewise, at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), traders have bought to open nearly 10 FTNT calls for every put in the past 10 weeks. The resultant call/put volume ratio of 9.88 is the highest reading recorded in the last year, hinting at sky-high expectations. Echoing this, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.32 ranks in the low 13th annual percentile. A capitulation among frustrated option bulls could result in headwinds.

Lastly, it's worth noting that short interest on Fortinet Inc (NASDAQ:FTNT) has been in free-fall. During the last two reporting periods, for example, short interest plunged 32%. However, the stock failed to capitalize on this short-covering activity -- actually giving up ground, and hinting at underlying weakness in FTNT shares.

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Shares of social media stock Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) have underperformed in recent weeks, taking a dive since their near-term high of $19.84 from earlier this month. In fact, TWTR just wrapped up a seven-day losing streak, and an eighth straight loss would be the stock's longest losing streak since January. However, Twitter is fighting to avoid this fate, with the stock fractionally higher at $16.43. TWTR options volume is on the rise in the meantime, with calls and puts both trading at an accelerated rate.

To be more specific, put volume is running at twice the rate normally seen at this point in the day, with much of the activity centering around the February 13 put. While it's not entirely clear how options traders are positioning themselves here, it's possible sell-to-open activity is taking place. In other words, traders are betting on TWTR shares holding above $13 in the weeks ahead. 

Historically, call buying has dominated Twitter's options pits. The stock sports a 10-day call/put volume ratio 3.63, meaning almost four calls have been purchased for every put during the past two weeks. This ratio outranks roughly two-thirds of all others from the past year, too, so this bullish bias is unusual. In a similar vein, TWTR's Schaeffer's put/call interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.42 is just 7 percentage points from an annual call-skewed extreme, indicating near-term traders have rarely been more call-heavy in the past year. 

This seemingly hopeful outlook among options traders is certainly not shared by analysts. At the moment, 25 brokerage firms are covering the stock, and just four recommend buying TWTR. Plus, the shares' average 12-month price target of $17.02 represents just a 3.3% premium to current levels. 

Bullish or bearish, it's a prime time to buy near-term Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) options. This is based off the stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 44%, which ranks below 96% of readings, going back one year. Said simply, the options market is pricing in unusually low volatility expectations right now for TWTR. 

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Outside of a recent pullback in the wake of Donald Trump's surprising presidential win, tech stocks have put in a solid performance in 2016 -- as evidenced by the price action in the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK). What's more, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (COMP) is just a chip-shot away from the record high it hit on Tuesday. Drilling down, computer hardware maker Logitech International SA (USA) (NASDAQ:LOGI) and navigation expert Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN) are two tech stocks that fall under our "Electronics" umbrella that are trading well above their 80-day moving averages, yet are surrounded by skepticism. In other words, these low expectations could help boost LOGI and GRMN even higher up the charts.

LOGI, for instance, is up almost 62% year-to-date, after an Oct. 26 earnings-induced bull gap sent the shares barreling to an eight-year high of $25.87. Since then, the shares have successfully tested support atop the $23.60 level, home to their early October highs. Additionally, LOGI stock recently took a firm bounce off its rising 50-day moving average -- currently located at $23.98 -- and was last seen trading at $24.39.

The $24 level may be reinforced as a near-term floor, too, considering peak put open interest for LOGI is located at the January 2017 24-strike put. Plus, the shares could encounter fresh tailwinds, should short sellers continue to throw in the towel. Although short interest on LOGI plunged 23% in the two most recent reporting periods, it would still take 22 sessions -- at Logitech International SA's average pace of trading -- to cover these shorted shares. Simply stated, there's ample amount of sideline cash available to help fuel LOGI's fire.

GRMN, meanwhile, is boasting a 35.4% lead in 2016, with the stock's 120-day moving average serving as a springboard since a mid-February bull gap sent the shares surging north of the trendline. While a bounce off this supportive moving average eventually sent the security to an annual peak of $56.19 in early August, a more recent pair of successful tests have helped keep GRMN's longer-term uptrend intact.

Nevertheless, short sellers have been upping the bearish ante -- with short interest up 9.4% in the two most recent reporting periods. A healthy 12.2% of GRMN's float is now sold short, representing three weeks' worth of pent-up buying demand. Plus, all nine covering analysts maintain a "hold" or "sell" recommendation. Should shares of Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ:GRMN) continue this positive price action, a short-squeeze situation and/or a round of upgrades could help the security extend this upward trajectory.

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While the post-Christmas week can lead to outsized moves for certain stocks -- good news for some, not so good for plenty of others -- the earnings and economic docket is bone dry. There are no notable earnings reports to be seen throughout the entire week, while Tuesday and Thursday are the busiest days for economic data. As such, trading volumes may be light, as investors prepare for the new year. 

Below is a brief list of some key market events scheduled for the upcoming week. All earnings dates listed below are tentative and subject to change. Please check with each company's respective website for official reporting dates.

Markets will be closed on Monday, Dec. 26 in observance of Christmas. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index and the Conference Board's consumer confidence survey will be released on Tuesday, Dec. 27, along with the Dallas Fed manufacturing survey. 

Pending home sales make up the economic docket on Wednesday, Dec. 28, while Thursday, Dec. 29 will feature weekly jobless claims, international trade data, and the holiday-delayed update on domestic crude inventories. The Chicago purchasing managers index (PMI) comes out on Friday, Dec. 30.

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Just one week after hitting a record low, camera maker GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) saw an early spike today, amid a fresh round of unconfirmed takeover chatter. After topping out earlier at $9.60, GPRO has pared its gains to hover just above the $9 mark, last seen up 1.5% at $9.03. As a result, a rare batch of call players has popped up in the stock's options pits, where last-minute bets are in high demand.

GPRO calls are changing hands at twice the expected intraday rate, outpacing puts at a more than 3-to-1 clip. Leading the action are the weekly 12/23 9- and 9.50-strike calls, with a combined 7,025 contracts on the tape. In fact, weekly options are popular in general, with the 12/23 and 12/30 series together accounting for seven of the 10 most active strikes.

Today's call-heavy action marks a distinct change of pace for GPRO options traders. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock has seen 1.41 puts purchased for every call over the past 10 weeks. Moreover, the resulting put/call volume ratio represents an annual high.

Near-term traders have been unusually put-skewed toward GPRO as well. The equity's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.12 sits higher than 81% of the past year's readings. What's more, the front-month gamma-weighted SOIR of 2.35 shows put open interest more than doubles call open interest among near-the-money options in the January series.

Meanwhile, short-term options traders are taking advantage of an attractive opportunity. GPRO's near-term options are currently well-priced from a volatility standpoint, per the security's Schaeffer's Volatility Index of 63% -- in the low 14th percentile of its annual range.

Outside of the options arena, skepticism toward GPRO also runs high. Short interest has fallen slightly from its November record high, but still represents nearly one-third of the equity's available float, or 8.5 days' worth of buying power, at GPRO's typical pace of trading. Plus, 13 out of 15 analysts call the stock a "hold" or worse.

Of course, GPRO has done plenty to deserve all this pessimism, from a technical point of view. The stock has shed nearly half its value in 2016 -- including about 46% quarter-to-date. In fact, the shares have underperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by nearly 50 percentage points over the past 60 sessions.

Obviously, it's been a different story today, with GoPro Inc (NASDAQ:GPRO) solidly higher. The shares could be bouncing due to the fact that their 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) had fallen into oversold territory at Wednesday's close, at 29.

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The 20 stocks listed in the table below have attracted the highest weekly options volume during the past 10 trading days. Stocks highlighted are new to the list since the last time the study was run, and data is courtesy of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White. Two names of notable interest are social media stock Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) and iPhone parent Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Here's a quick look at how options traders are lining up on TWTR and AAPL.

TWTR is getting demolished this afternoon, down 4.5% at $16.31 -- and on track for a seventh consecutive daily loss. Panic seems to be persisting amid a recent exodus of top executives. Year-to-date, the shares have now surrendered nearly 30%.

Nonetheless, call buying has been the predominant strategy in TWTR's options pits. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the microblogging stock has seen 4.30 calls bought to open for every put during the past two weeks -- a ratio that ranks in the bullishly skewed 84th annual percentile. Echoing this, Twitter's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.42 rests in the low 7th annual percentile, hinting at a near-extreme call skew among options in the front three-months' series. Should option bulls begin hitting the exits, the shares could be pressured further south.

Today, however, Twitter Inc put options are flying off the shelves at nearly double the usual intraday rate. The weekly 12/23 17 strike -- which is now in the money -- is the most active put option, and it appears some buy-to-open activity may be transpiring.

Meanwhile, fresh off yesterday's patent infringement lawsuit, AAPL is down 0.8% at $116.07 -- but remains about 10% higher in 2016. Separately, despite reiterating a "buy" rating and an $135 price target, Brean Capital expressed caution about the upcoming iPhone cycle. "Given the lack of model clarity, along with lack of super compelling new features and, frankly, higher ASPs in the U.S given the roll-back of carrier subsidies, competition in China, and higher ASPs in India, we believe it's very possible that the CY'18 demand is more muted that what we'd all originally envisioned," Brean explained.

That isn't stopping options traders from buying to open calls today, with the most action taking place at the weekly 12/23 117 strike. ISE data confirms new positions have been purchased, though it appears some are tied to stock. In any case, today's call buying merely echoes what we've witnessed in recent weeks at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX. Apple Inc.'s 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.05 sits just 8 percentage points from a 12-month peak.

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Kate Spade & Co (KATE) is trading lower along with its fellow retail stocks, with shares of the handbag maker down 3.5% at $14.09 -- and fresh off a three-year low of $14.02. While a negative earnings reaction for retailer Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (NASDAQ:BBBY) and BlueFin Research's expectations of a fiscal third-quarter earnings miss for Michael Kors Holdings Ltd (NYSE:KORS) are likely weighing on KATE stock today, options traders are nonetheless keeping the faith. In fact, amid a low-volume session in KATE's options pits, calls are outpacing puts by a more than 10-to-1 margin.

Most active is the February 16 call, where it looks like options traders may be purchasing new positions. If this is the case, the goal is for KATE stock to surge back above $16 by the close on Friday, Feb. 17 -- when the back-month options expire. Should the calls finish out of the money, though, the most the call buyers stand to lose is the initial premium paid.

Today's call-skewed session is nothing new for KATE, though. The stock has seen some of the most active options trading among mid-cap names over the past 10 sessions, according to Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White. Specifically, 27,746 calls have traded on KATE over the last two weeks, compared to 3,416 puts.

Widening the scope reveals a prevalence of call buying relative to put buying at the major options exchanges in recent months. In fact, KATE sports a top-heavy 50-day call/put volume ratio of 9.74 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). What's more, this ratio ranks in the elevated 73rd annual percentile, meaning long calls have been initiated over puts at a faster-than-usual clip.

Outside of the options pits, short interest is almost non-existent on KATE, having dropped 52.6% in the two most recent reporting periods -- as bearish bettors likely took profits on the plunging stock. Now, the 3.6 million KATE shares that are sold short is the fewest the stock has seen since May 2009. Analysts, meanwhile, have taken a glass-half-full stance toward the retail stock, with 71% maintaining a "buy" or better rating, and not a single "sell" to be found.

From a contrarian perspective, Kate Spade & Co (KATE) could be at risk of additional losses in the near term. Should the shares continue to add to their nearly 21% year-to-deficit, an unwinding of optimism among options traders, a renewed burst of selling pressure from short sellers, and/or a round of downgrades from the brokerage bunch could send KATE stock on its next leg lower.

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U.S. stocks are lower as markets react to this morning's mixed economic data. Among specific equities in focus today are uranium mining stock Uranium Resources, Inc. (NASDAQ:URRE), snack specialist Conagra Brands Inc (NYSE:CAG), and medical device maker Second Sight Medical Products Inc (NASDAQ:EYES). Here's a quick look at what's moving URRE, CAG, and EYES.

• URRE is up 34% at $1.46, as uranium stocks rally after President-elect Donald Trump tweeted that it was time for the country to "greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability," a project some say could cost as much as $1 trillion over the next 30 years. Longer term, URRE has been in a free-fall over the last few years, down more than 99% since its 2011 highs, and touching a record low of $0.97 just last month. Although short interest is up 23.5% over the last two reporting periods, shorted shares still account for only 8.6% of URRE's float, which would take less than one day to cover, at the equity's average daily volume. However, that's not too surprising, considering there's only so far a penny stock can fall.  
  
  
• CAG is up 3.2% at $39.23 -- earlier notching a new record high of $39.43 -- after the company delivered stronger-than-expected earnings. Conagra Brands Inc said cost-minimizing measures, as well as less discounting, helped boost sales and quarterly profit, and the company expects sales to continue to improve over the next two quarters. CAG is up more than 32% since touching an annual low in late January, and it looks like option players are betting on even more upside, with CAG's 50-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) showing 6.62 calls bought to open for every put over the last 10 weeks, a reading that sits in the 72nd percentile of its annual range.

• EYES is trading 10.3% higher at $2.13, on news that England's National Health Service will be funding studies of Sthe company's 'bionic eye' in 10 patients in 2017. Second Sight Medical Products Inc shares have been in a channel of lower highs and lows since mid-2015, and today could take out their 30-day moving average for just the second time since early October. Short sellers may be sweating, given EYES' short interest accounts for 13% of the stock's float, which would take almost a month to cover, at the stock's average daily volume.

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