Oracle is reportedly in talks to buy Cerner in a multi-billion dollar deal
The shares of electronic medical records provider Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ:CERN) are up 11.9% to trade at $88.93 this morning, after earlier surging to a new all-time high of $92.34. This bull gap came after the Wall Street Journal reported that Oracle (ORCL) is in talks to buy the company for potentially $30 billion.
The security was pacing for its best day since April 2008 earlier today, while also eyeing its fifth-straight win. CERN is also looking to close at its highest level on record, and has added 25.9% quarter-to-date.
There has been a preference for bullish bets over in the options pits. Over at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), 17.36 calls have been bought for every put during the past two weeks.
Today's options pits lean heavily bearish, however. So far, 12,000 puts have crossed the tape, or 78 times the intraday average. Most popular is the January 2022 85 put, where new positions are being opened.