Alphabet options had been seeing a slight uptick in bearish bets latelyThe class A shares of Google-parent Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are 6.1% higher to trade at $149.83, after a Bloomberg report revealed that Apple (AAPL) is talking over licensing Google's Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) engine for future iPhones. GOOGL is a consistent member of Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's list of stocks that attracted the highest weekly options volume during the previous 10 days. Per White's ...

Taiwan Semiconductor Mfg. Co. Ltd. (NYSE:TSM) is considering building advanced packaging capacity in Japan, which could boost the country's semiconductor industry. The security is up 2.7% at $140.28 at last check, climbing back towards its March 8, all-time high of $158.40, with support from the 20-day moving average. TSM is already up more than 34% in 2024.The brokerage bunch leans bullish, with eight of nine analysts in coverage calling Taiwan Semiconductor stock a "buy" or better. Bull notes could still ...

McDonald's Corp (NYSE:MCD) stores in the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Japan suffered a technology outage that reportedly left customers able to pay only in cash, while employees took orders on paper, and some locations suspended operations. The fast food giant said it was working to address the issue, and that it was not related to a cyberattack.MCD is down 0.4% at $280.50 ahead of the open, pacing for a third-straight daily drop after slipping below support from the 100-day moving average. Shares are ...

Fintech stocks Block Inc (NYSE:SQ) and PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) are seeing high volume in the options pits. Both have attracted investors' attention lately, and today PayPal named Aaron J. Webster as Executive Vice President and Chief Enterprise Services Officer. SQ was last seen up 4.9%, while PYPL rises 3.9%. Today's pop has SQ at fresh 52-week highs, up 10.7% since the start of the year. PayPal stock earlier recovered from its early February, post-earnings bear gap, but has since pared gains sli ...

A Bloomberg report indicated the Pentagon is considering ditching plans to spend $2.5 billion on a chip grant to IntelIntel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) is in the spotlight today, after Bloomberg reported the Pentagon intends to scrap plans to spend $2.5 billion on a chip grant to the company. Those familiar with the situation said it's up to the Commerce department to make up for the shortfall, as President Joe Biden signed into law a defense funding package that allotted $3.5 billion to Intel to produce defense and ...

The partnership will allow the pharma giant to deliver drugs straight to consumersEli Lilly And Co (NYSE:LLY) today announced a new partnership with Amazon.com's  (AMZN) pharmacy to deliver drugs ordered via its LillyDirect service, including weight loss medication Zepbound, straight to consumers. The stock is down 0.4% at $751.86 at last check, with today's update also weighing on Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), which last month lost its spot on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) to AMZN.The $720 leve ...

Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) stock was last seen up 10.1% to trade at $125.70, after the tech company beat fiscal third-quarter earnings thanks in part to artificial intelligence (AI) demand. The company also teased a joint announcement with chip giant Nvidia (NVDA) ahead of a global AI conference for developers on Monday, March 18.ORCL drew no fewer than 16 price-target hikes in response, the highest coming from Mizuho to $160 from $140. Analysts remain split on ORCL, however, with half the brokerage firms in c ...

Nvidia sits atop the list of stocks that saw most options volume over the last two weeksNvidia Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) just last week became the world's third-most valuable public company, thanks to it pole position  as a leader in artificial intelligence (AI).  Due to this, the 'Magnificent Seven' member keeps a reserved spot on Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's list of stocks that attract the highest weekly options volume over the preceding two weeks. NVDA once again took the second-place s ...

PDD Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PDD) is down 3.2% at $113.82 at last check, following news consumer prices in China rose for the first time in six months. The data points to an inflation rebound and fueled hopes of a recovery in the economy, pushing several China stocks higher as a result.Options bulls are chiming in, with 24,000 calls traded so far -- triple the intraday average amount -- versus just 4,904 puts. Most popular is the weekly 3/22 125-strike call, where new positions are being opened.Despite today's ...

The shares of Boeing Co (NYSE:BA) are sliding, after news that the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) is opening a criminal investigation into January's infamous Alaska Airlines (ALK) flight, in which a section of a Boeing 737 MAX jet blew out mid-flight. Furthermore, in a newly developing story, at least 50 people were injured aboard a LATAM flight from Sydney to Auckland due to a technical issue that caused the Boeing 787-9 aircraft to quickly lose altitude. BA last seen down 2.5% at $193.50, trading at its ...