Buzz Stocks: Navistar International Corp, Pier 1 Imports Inc, and SUPERVALU INC.

U.S. stocks could struggle today, after the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to sit on its hands. Among specific equities in focus are truck manufacturer Navistar International Corp (NYSE:NAV), home retailer Pier 1 Imports Inc (NYSE:PIR), and grocery stock SUPERVALU INC. (NYSE:SVU).

• NAV has slumped 3.8% in pre-market trading, just two days after gapping higher on major investment news. Pressuring the stock ahead of the open is the firm's surprising third-quarter loss and weaker-than-expected sales -- not to mention a Department of Defense subpoena. Technically speaking, Navistar International Corp shares are sitting pretty following the aforementioned bull gap, closing yesterday at $19.02 -- and more than doubling on a year-to-date basis. Yet, short interest on the stock is sky-high. Specifically, 23% of NAV's float is sold short, representing 12 days' worth of trading activity, at the equity's typical volumes.

• PIR is even worse off, cratering 13.5% in electronic trading on weak preliminary second-quarter results, including a 4.3% drop in same-store sales. What's more, CEO Alex Smith will abandon his post by year-end. Also shaking Pier 1 Imports Inc shares, Oppenheimer, Raymond James, and Credit Suisse lowered their ratings, while a handful of other analysts slashed their price targets. Since topping out at $7.70 in mid-April, the stock has been battered, settling Wednesday at $4.80. Not surprisingly, PIR's 50-day put/call volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) is a top-heavy 6.53 -- only 8 percentage points from an annual peak.

• SVU could be today's Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (NASDAQ:SFM). The latter sparked a sector-wide sell-off yesterday on a profit warning, and SUPERVALU INC. could now do the same. The budget grocery chain cited "softer than previously anticipated" second-quarter retail sales, and downwardly adjusted its full-year outlook. As such, SVU is off 9.5% ahead of the bell, and has already surrendered 19.3% year-to-date to trade at $5.47. This should come as good news to options traders, who have been betting more pessimistically than usual of late. The stock's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX put/call volume ratio of 0.72 ranks in the bearishly skewed 83rd percentile of its annual range.

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