Buzz Stocks: Amazon.com, Inc., Google Inc., and Twitter, Inc.

U.S. equities are poised to rally this morning, as speculation ramps up regarding potential stimulus measures overseas. In company news, today's stocks to watch include e-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), Internet heavyweight Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and microblogging platform Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR).

• AMZN announced plans to produce about 12 small-budget independent films per year, starting in 2015, as part of an initiative dubbed Amazon Original Movies. The motion pictures will be released in theaters first, and shortly thereafter, will be made available for streaming on Prime Instant Video. On the charts, Amazon.com, Inc. has had a woeful year -- shedding 27.2% of its value in the last 12 months to land at $290.74 -- and is just a stone's throw away from its annual low of $284 from late October. Accordingly, short-term options traders have shown a distinct preference for puts over calls. AMZN's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.71 ranks in the 100th percentile of its 52-week range.


• According to reports, GOOGL is discussing the potential acquisition of mobile-payments firm Softcard for an estimated $100 million. Additionally, Google Inc is allegedly on the verge of making a $1 billion investment in Space Exploration Technologies Corp. -- better known as SpaceX. Technically speaking, shares of the Internet company have fallen 11.4% year-over-year to trade at $510.45, but have been consolidating around the $500 half-millennium mark in recent weeks -- which roughly corresponds to an upside gap from October 2013. Meanwhile, optimism is strong among the brokerage bunch. Twenty-five out of 31 covering analysts rate the shares a "buy" or better, and their consensus 12-month price target of $635.13 sits at a more than 24% premium to current trading levels.


• Finally, TWTR has closed a deal to acquire ZipDial for up to $40 million. The India-based startup is designed to save users money by allowing them to call a designated phone number for a business, hang up prior to incurring a charge, and receive a call or text with information about the company. Turning to the charts, Twitter Inc has retreated roughly 40% year-over-year to perch at $37.31, and has struggled to topple the round-number $40 mark since the beginning of December. Nevertheless, options traders are keeping the faith. TWTR's 50-day call/put volume ratio on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) is 2.64, in the 95th annual percentile. However, a capitulation among these bullish bettors could spell headwinds for the shares.