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CCXI, CISG, and TLM are moving sharply in Friday's trading
Around midday, three of the top market movers are drugmaker ChemoCentryx Inc (NASDAQ:CCXI), Chinese insurance name CNinsure Inc. (ADR) (NASDAQ:CISG), and oil-and-gas concern Talisman Energy Inc. (USA) (NYSE:TLM). Here's a quick roundup of how CCXI, CISG, and TLM are performing on the charts so far.
- CCXI has surged 60% to trade at $7.18 -- and earlier touched an annual high of $8.50 -- on news that its kidney disease treatment fared successfully in a mid-stage trial. While shareholders are dancing in the streets, there are plenty of short sellers licking their wounds. More than 22% of ChemoCentryx Inc's float is dedicated to short interest, which would take 50 sessions to buy back, at the stock's typical daily trading level.
- CISG has rallied 12% to hover near $7.01, after receiving approval to expand its new share issue to employees. Given today's gains, the security is now up a market-beating 16% year-to-date. This is likely good news for options traders. During the last 10 weeks at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), speculators have been upping the bullish ante on CNinsure Inc. (ADR). The equity's 50-day call/put volume ratio across those exchanges is a mind-numbing 164.40, which is just 1 percentage point from a 12-month peak.
- TLM is up 35% to hover near $4.98, as Spanish oil group Repsol SA reportedly prepares to make an $8 billion bid on the company (subscription required). Longer term, though, Talisman Energy Inc. (USA) has been a technical laggard, dropping roughly 57% in 2014. As such, traders at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX have shown a pronounced preference for long puts, relative to calls, in recent months. The equity's 50-day put/call volume ratio of 0.21 across this trio of exchanges sits higher than 86% of all comparable readings from the last year.