Buzz Stocks: Groupon Inc, Ford Motor Company, and Oracle Corporation

U.S. stocks are down, as traders eye the latest batch of earnings reports. Among equities in focus today are discount provider Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN), automaker Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), and software stock Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL).

• GRPN is up 33.6% at $5.05 -- among the best-performing Nasdaq stocks thus far -- after a better-than-expected earnings report and upwardly revised full-year revenue forecast. No fewer than eight analysts issued price-target hikes in the wake of GRPN's earnings report, including Piper Jaffray, which hiked its target to $6.50 from $6. Groupon Inc is now up 64.5% for the year, and set to close above its 80-week moving average for the first time since April 2014. Quite a few short sellers could be shaking in their boots. Short interest represents 14% of GRPN's total available float, and would take nearly 12 sessions to buy back, at the equity's average pace of trading. 

• F is down 8.3% at $12.69 -- the biggest S&P 500 Index (SPX) loser, at last check -- after delivering disappointing earnings. Further, CFO Bob Shanks said Ford's full-year guidance "is at risk," and that "we don't see growth, at least in the near term." The automaker has been making a series of lower highs and lows since mid-2014, with recent rebound attempts contained by its 10-month moving average. There's likely some distress in Ford Motor Company's option pits this morning, with F's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.68 in just the 12th percentile of its annual range, suggesting short-term option players have been unusually call-biased as of late. 

• ORCL is up 0.5% at $41.13, after news hit that the software company will be purchasing NetSuite Inc (NYSE:N) in a deal valued at $9.3 billion -- the latest Oracle effort to grow its cloud business. ORCL is up 12.5% year-to-date, although the shares have encountered resistance at the $42 level since June 2015. There are probably some option bulls celebrating this latest news, with ORCL's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.44 on the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) sitting in the 80th percentile of its annual range. Option buyers have been getting quite a deal on Oracle Corporation options lately, since ORCL's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 15% sits lower than 98% of all other readings from the past year, suggesting near-term option players have been pricing in relatively low volatility expectations.

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