BlackBerry Ltd (BBRY) and Paypal Holdings Inc (PYPL) are teaming up to make it easier to send cash
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) and
Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) have begun beta testing on a joint project called
"BBM Money." Select users in Canada have been given access to the new app, allowing them to send money with the click of a button -- much like Apple Pay.
The news has failed to lift BBRY, which is down 1.2% at $7.65. From a slightly longer-term perspective, though, the stock has been battling back since touching a late-July annual low of $7.15, up 7%.
On the Street, bears have been out in full force. Over 80% of covering analysts rate BBRY a "hold" or worse. On top of that, more than one-fifth of its float is
sold short, equating to three weeks' worth of pent-up buying power, at typical daily volumes. If BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) can muscle higher, an
unwinding of this pessimism could act as an upward catalyst.
Meanwhile, Wall Street newcomer PYPL has been fairly unremarkable on the charts, spending the past couple weeks in the $36-$40 range -- last seen at $37.89. But that hasn't stopped option traders from
placing bullish bets at a rapid-fire rate. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), speculators have bought to open more than 12,100 Paypal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) calls versus roughly 700 puts over the last 10 days, yielding a call/put volume ratio of 17.12.