BBRY – Blackberry Ltd. – Shares in BlackBerry, which were halted just before 1:30 p.m. ET with news pending, resumed trading at 2:00 p.m. ET, immediately rallying 5% to $9.15 to reverse earlier declines on reports the company has signed a letter of intent agreement with a group led by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited to take the company private in a deal valued at $4.7 billion. Investors in BBRY would receive $9.00 a share in cash under the terms of the deal.
When the stock was halted, shares in the name were off 5.7% on the session at $8.23, and options volume was above 200,000 contracts, more than twice the stock’s average daily volume of around 90,000 contracts. Trading in puts on BBRY had been outpacing that of calls prior to the trading halt, with the put/call ratio at 1.6 prior to the resumption of trading.
At last check, shares in BBRY are off their highs, up 1.15% at $8.82. Options volume jumped to 335,000 contracts within 25 minutes of the resumption of trading.
P – Pandora Media, Inc. – Shares in Internet radio provider Pandora Media, Inc. are trading sharply lower today after Apple said more than 11 million unique listeners have used its iTunes Radio feature since its release. Pandora’s shares are currently down 11% at $24.00 as of 11:35 a.m. ET. Despite the rough start to the trading week, Pandora’s shares are still up approximately 130% since this time last year.
Trading in weekly call and put options on Pandora this morning suggests some traders are positioning for shares in the name to rebound, while others brace for further declines. More than 1,800 of the Sep 27 ’13 $24 strike puts changed hands by midday in New York versus open interest of 945 contracts, with much of the volume purchased at an average premium of $0.40 each. Buyers of the at-the-money puts may profit at expiration if shares in Pandora decline another 1.7% to trade below the average breakeven point at $23.60. In contrast, traders buying around 1,000 of the Sep 27 ’13 $25 strike call options for an average premium of $0.96 apiece today stand ready to profit at expiration given a more than 8.0% rebound in the price of the underlying to exceed $25.96.
