Today's stocks to watch include EMC Corporation (EMC), Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN), and Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NBIX)
U.S. benchmarks are modestly lower, as traders await minutes from the September Fed meeting. Today's equities in focus are information technology firm EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC), Internet retail giant Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), and biotechnology firm Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:NBIX).
- EMC is 2.7% higher at $26.66, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the company could be bought by Dell (subscription required). CNBC, meanwhile, said Dell could offer more than $27 per share for EMC. Technically, shares of EMC Corporation have outperformed the broader S&P 500 Index (SPX) by 9 percentage points during the past three months. In the options pits, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.35 is lower than 96% of the readings taken in the past 52 weeks, suggesting near-term traders are more call-heavy than usual. Further bullish sentiment is found in EMC's analyst coverage. At last check, 17 of the 25 brokerages tracking the firm rate it a "buy" or better. However, Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi opined, "We don't think Dell has the financial capacity to buy EMC, even if EMC were to spin-out [VMware, Inc. (NYSE:VMW)]."
- AMZN is 2% lower at $531, after launching its newest project, Handmade (subscription required). Handmade is meant to compete with Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY) and features 5,000 sellers offering 80,000 items. Amazon.com, Inc. has been a technical powerhouse, rallying 71.4% in 2015. While the stock chugs steadily higher, pessimism has been building in the option pits. On the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), AMZN's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.18 is higher than 99% of the readings taken in the past 52 weeks. What's more, short interest skyrocketed by nearly 65% in the past two reporting periods.
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NBIX is up 9.4% at $42.60, after the firm reported upbeat data on NBI-98854, its experimental drug to treat tardive dyskinesia patients. The shares have soared an impressive 93% in 2015, but today's momentum stalled in the $47.25 region, home to the equity's formerly supportive 10- and 20-week moving averages. Meanwhile, Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. could enjoy a short squeeze, should bears abandon ship. Short interest soared 24.8% during the past two reporting periods, and now represents nearly seven sessions' worth of pent-up buying demand, at the stock's average daily trading volume. Analysts, on the other hand, are already in the bulls' corner, with all eight covering brokerages offering up "strong buy" endorsements.
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