Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD) is getting its feelings hurt in after-hours trading after H-P (NYSE: HPQ) decided to spend $2.7 billion to buy 3Com (NASDAQ: COMS). Many have been under the assumption that Brocade Communications would be bought by H-P. The good news is that someone else may now need to look at Brocade. But the bad news is that Brocade is being slapped around. The stock is down 7% at $8.60 in after-hours trading. As of 5:02 BRCD has also traded 2.8 million shares in the after-hours session alone.
JON OGG
Who said home builders won’t do well as an investment? Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE: TOL) is soaring on exponential trading volume today. We have seen almost 5X volume in the stock as at 2:10 PM EST there have been 17.2 million shares versus less than 4 million on average. The gain is to $21.10 and teh 52-week range is $13.55 to $24.30. But here is the call options and put options trading for the NOV-2009 expiration:
CALL$   Volume   OpInt
$18.00Â Â Â 1,421Â Â Â 6,094
$19.00Â Â Â 2,849Â Â Â 7,896
$20.00Â Â Â 1,387Â Â Â 10,712
$21.00Â Â Â 3,210Â Â Â 12,640
$22.00Â Â Â 2,541Â Â Â 1,127
PUT$   Volume   OpInt
$20.00Â Â Â 3,781Â Â Â 5,840
$21.00Â Â Â 1,329Â Â Â 397
This is on heels of a Wells Fargo upgrade AND on its guidance that new contracts are up 42% and fourth quarter revenue will beat analyst estimates at $486.6 million. To put this in perspective from a 2008, this is way above the $386+ million estimate from Thomson Reuters. But it is also far south of a year ago’s $691 million in revenues for the same quarter.
JON OGG
MetroPCS (NYSE: PCS) traders continue to gamble on the potential of a takeover as implied volatility sits at 77%. Today, 15,000 November $7.50 puts were closed and rolled into a bullish position with shares at $5.90. The trader sold 15,000 February $5 puts and bought 15,000 February $7.50 calls for a 5 cent debit.
-Joe Kunkle, OptionsHawk.com
A123 Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: AONE) is trading down after it managed to beat revenue expectations last night at $23.6 million vs. $19.2 million estimates. The recent electric car battery IPO has really cpome off of highs since the IPO hype was there. The company tried to ease concerns about its relationship with Chrysler a week after the carmaker said it would dismantle its team working on electric vehicles and basically send those plans into Fiat. It also said it was in talks with 7 different auto makers. Shares closed at $17.98 yesterday and are down over 3% at $17.36 on about 20,000 shares at 8:56 AM EST.
