Buzz Stocks: BlackBerry, Dow Chemical, Orexigen

U.S. futures are trading lower ahead of the open, with investors eyeing today's reading on gross domestic product (GDP) and a speech from Fed Chair Janet Yellen. Among the equities in focus are smartphone maker BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), science and technology giant Dow Chemical Co (NYSE:DOW), and biotech name Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:OREX).

• BBRY is making a strong push higher in electronic trading, after the company's fourth-quarter profit beat analysts' expectations. The shares are pointed 6.2% higher ahead of the open, as they try to gain back some of their 15.3% year-to-date deficit, following yesterday's close at $9.30. If BlackBerry Ltd can sustain this morning's momentum, the equity could be looking at additional upside, given the amount of pessimism surrounding it. For instance, put buying has picked up during the past two weeks at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). The stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio across these exchanges is 0.36 -- which lands in the 72nd percentile of its annual range. Elsewhere, nearly one-fifth of BBRY's float is sold short, representing over eight sessions' worth of trading, at normal daily volumes. A reversal of sentiment in and out of the options pits could give the security a spark.


• DOW has gained 3.5% in electronic trading, after announcing it will sell most of its chlorine business to sector peer Olin Corporation (NYSE:OLN) -- in a transaction valued at roughly $5 billion. Dow Chemical Co finished yesterday at $46.44, and has now added nearly 11% since its 2015 low of $41.95 on Jan. 14. Still, analysts aren't sold on the equity just yet. Of the 18 brokerage firms covering DOW, 11 rate it a "hold" or worse.


• OREX is poised to jump 7.6% out of the gate, after the company's obesity drug, Mysimba, was approved for marketing authorization by the European Commission. In the stock's options pits, OREX's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.01 rests at an annual high, meaning short-term speculators are more put-heavy now than at any other time during the past year. On the Street, analysts have taken a bullish stance. All six of the brokerage firms covering Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. rate it a "buy" or better. OREX has done its best to live up to these expectations, adding 11.2% year-over-year, settling at $7.25 yesterday.