11:19 OPTNX Early Options Activity *****
Taking an early look at the options market, we found the following names that may be worth watching throughout the day for further indication of investor expectations given their options volume and implied volatility movement. Stocks seeing volatility buying: WSM Jan07 30 puts are seeing interest with 4150 contracts trading vs. open int of 2340, pushing implied vol up around 5 points to ~36%; MRVL Jan07 18.75 puts are seeing interest with 5360 contracts trading, pushing implied vol up around 5 points to ~40% -- UBS cut their estimates on the stock this morning and Wedbush initiated the stock with a Hold; VLO Jan07 52.5 calls are seeing interest with 11.6K contracts trading vs. open int of 11.3K, pushing implied vol up around 4 points to ~32%... CBOE Put/Call ratio: 0.95, VIX: (11.85, -0.19, -1.6%), VXN: (17.21, -0.29, -1.7%). (To find past options related comments in the archive, use the symbol OPTNX)
09:40 MRVL Marvell initiated before the open with a Hold at Wedbush- tgt $20 (19.52 -0.02) -Update- *****
Wedbush initiated MRVL with a Hold and a $20 tgt saying they think MRVL is fully valued relative to its 2007 and 2008 earnings power and look for 1) a cheaper stock near the $15-16 range, 2) signs of greater than expected share gains in its handset chip business, or 3) greater than expected growth in Wi-Fi, Ethernet, or hard drive chips. The firm says they greatly respect Marvell's technology portfolio and execution track record, and look forward to recommending the shares at more reasonable valuation levels.
09:28 MRVL Marvell ests cut at UBS to reflect lowered PC growth forecast (19.54 ) *****
UBS lowers their MRVL estimates to reflect the firm's new PC growth estimate of 12% YoY, down from 14% prior est. Firm says the diminished rate of anticipated acceleration is likely to adversely impact MRVL given its HDD IC and networking exposure. Firm lowers their MRVL FY08 EPS and rev ests, and cuts their tgt to $28 from $30