Buzz Stocks: Newell Rubbermaid Inc., Trina Solar Limited, and Cheniere Energy, Inc.

Today's stocks to watch include Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NWL), Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (TSL), and Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG)

Dec 14, 2015 at 9:50 AM

U.S. stocks shrugged off pre-market weakness to open higher today, as traders eye crude oil below $35 a barrel and brace for this week's highly anticipated Fed meeting. Among the equities in focus are consumer goods producer Newell Rubbermaid Inc. (NYSE:NWL) and energy concerns Trina Solar Limited (ADR) (NYSE:TSL) and Cheniere Energy, Inc. (NYSEMKT:LNG).

NWL is 6.7% lower at $42.26, after confirming recent speculation that it will buy Jarden Corp (NYSE:JAH) in a $13.22 billion deal. At $60 per share, this represents a roughly 14% premium over Jarden's Friday close of $52.68. NWL has been trending higher over the past four years, and hit a new 16-year high of $50.90 just one week ago. Analysts have been bullish on the stock, with 14 out of 16 brokerages giving NWL a rating of "buy" or better. Short sellers may be cheering today's slide, however, as the 4.7% of the security's total float that is sold short accounts for 10.3 times NWL's average daily trading volume.

TSL is 7.8% higher at $10.29, after it received a proposal to go private in a $980 million deal led by CEO Jifan Gao and Shanghai Xingsheng Equity Investment & Management Co. The $11.60-per-share deal represents a 21.5% premium over Trina Solar Limited's Friday closing price of $9.55. Options traders have been placing bearish bets on TSL. The stock has a Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.61, which ranks higher than 96% of readings taken in the past year. This indicates that near-term traders have rarely been so put-heavy at any time in the last 12 months.

LNG is searching for a new top executive, after the company announced the ousting of CEO Charif Souki. The news has sent the stock fractionally higher to $41.48, and has been warmly received by activist investor Carl Icahn -- with reports last week indicating he had upped his LNG stake to 13.8%, just as the shares were hitting a yearly low at $38.71. Cheniere Energy, Inc. has shed 41.1% on the charts year-to-date, and options traders are eyeing more downsides. On the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), LNG has a 50-day put/call volume ratio of 2.18, which ranks in the 94th percentile of all readings taken in the last year.

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