Buzz Stocks: Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Angie's List Inc, and Herbalife Ltd.

Today's stocks to watch include Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT), Angie's List Inc (ANGI), and Herbalife Ltd. (HLF)

Nov 17, 2015 at 10:10 AM

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U.S. exchanges are struggling for direction, as traders weigh a drop in crude, the latest economic data, and a pair of positive blue-chip earnings. Among the equities in focus are retail blue chip Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT), service review company Angie's List Inc (NASDAQ:ANGI), and nutritional supplement concern Herbalife Ltd. (NYSE:HLF).

WMT is paring its year-to-date deficit after reporting third-quarter earnings above expectations. The shares of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. are up 3.3% so far this morning, last seen trading at $59.80 -- on pace for their highest close since the Oct. 14 bear gap. If this upward trend continues, near-term options traders should be pleased. WMT's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.58 is lower than all but 18% of readings taken in the past year, suggesting near-term traders have been particularly call-heavy lately. Luckily for them, yesterday's news of a major investor cutting his stake did not have any negative effect on the shares. Still, 17 out of 20 firms following the stock give it a "hold" rating, leaving the door open for possible upgrades in light of the positive earnings news.

ANGI is off 3.3% at $9.51, after the firm rejected last week's unsolicited buyout offer from IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ:IACI). At $8.75 a share, Angie's List Inc said the proposal "dramatically undervalues" the company's standalone prospects, even though the per-share offer represented a 10.5% premium to the stock's close before the bid. ANGI is up 52.5% year-to-date, but traders have been seriously pessimistic on the stock. Not only is 16.8% of ANGI's total available float sold short, its SOIR of 2.2 stands at a one-year high. That means near-term options traders have not been this put-heavy at any other time in the last 52 weeks. Meanwhile, pessimism-plagued IACI is up 0.3% at $64.95.

HLF lost a major investor in Soros Fund Management, as the hedge fund pulled out of the nutrition company and took new positions in Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), amongst others. Nevertheless, Herbalife Ltd. shares were last seen trading 0.5% higher at $55.54, and have added 47.2% so far this year. Still, skepticism prevails. HLF's SOIR of 1.85 is higher than three-fourths of all readings taken in the past year. And, with more than one-fourth of HLF's total float sold short -- accounting for nearly 23 days of trading, at the stock's typical daily pace -- a short-covering rally could help the shares extend their upward momentum.

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