By Investing.com Staff
Stocks staged an impressive rally off the lows today but failed to close in the green. Despite the drop, several rumors drove trading action in a number of stocks and markets. Below we highlighted a few:
Today's intra-day bounce in stocks was said related to a "giant" $31 million options transaction." The trade, according to a Wells Fargo strategist, involved the buying of 20,000 S&P 500 calls expiring in October with a strike price of 4,500, 14,000 bullish contracts expiring in March with a strike of 4,300, and the selling of 48,000 calls maturing in January with an exercise price at 4,500.
Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) gained nearly 2% following reports from Bloomberg News it is talking with Blackstone (NYSE:BX) about selling some commercial and residential solutions assets for between $5-$10 billion. A Stephens analyst said the multiple that would be paid in a sale of the assets would be "well above" EMR's current average.
Lumen (NYSE:LUMN) shares fell nearly 10% on concerns about the dividend which were brought up by a Wells Fargo analyst who downgraded the shares today. The analyst sees ~20% or more downside risk in the event of a 50% dividend cut.
Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) surged off lows today on speculation it would be a target of a takeover, according to the opinion of a Reuters Breaking Views writer. The writer says the current price levels, make it an attractive takeover target.
Want to get this news first? Upgrade to InvestingPro for real-time market coverage.