Buzz Stocks: Yahoo! Inc., Baidu Inc (ADR), and Monsanto Company

• YHOO is down 0.5% at $37.75, after delivering a disappointing earnings report, and failing to give any new information about the sale of its core business. However, CNBC reported that there are five final bidders in the running, and the company hopes to wrap up the process by the end of the month. Although Yahoo! Inc. is up 13.6% so far this year, the stock has been stuck in the $36-$38 range since mid-March, as investors awaited M&A news. The lackluster earnings reaction may come as a disappointment to option traders, with YHOO's 10-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sitting at 4.13, in the 72nd percentile of its annual range, showing a distinct preference for bullish bets as of late.
  

• BIDU is down 1.5% at $162.30, after Chinese internet watchdogs alleged that illegal gambling websites were using the search engine to run late-night ads. While Baidu hasn't been found guilty of anything, it's yet another blow to the foreign internet giant, which is down 14% since the beginning of the year. However, BIDU's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.21 sits higher than any other time in the past 12 months, suggesting near-term option players haven't been more put-skewed in the past 12 months. Analysts, on the other hand, seem to hold a more optimistic opinion of Baidu Inc (ADR), with six of seven rating the shares a "buy" or better, and without a single "sell" to be found.

• MON is down 0.3% at $106.02, after rejecting yet another bid from German pharmaceutical company Bayer AG. Although Monsanto Company says it is still open to further negotiations, the $65 billion bid was deemed "financially inadequate and insufficient to ensure deal certainty." MON is up 7.7% so far this year, amidst the M&A buzz in recent months, and short interest has fallen 23.5% over the last two reporting periods, now accounting for a mere 1.4% of the stock's float. Bullish bets have been in style for the stock, with MON's 50-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 4.98 sitting in the 83rd percentile of its annual range.

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