In the report, Bank of America stated, "ILMN noted that market

Illumina Shares Soar on Rumor of Roche $88/Share Bid

The Rumor:Shares of Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) surged higher Friday, after Swiss publication L'Agefi reported Swiss pharma giant Roche (OTC: RHHBY) had

The number of shares sold short in Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN), Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ONXX) and VIVUS (NASDAQ:

The stocks that made the list include Endo Health Solutions (NASDAQ: ENDP), Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) and Keryx Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:

The number of shares sold short in Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALXN), Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN), Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB), Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:

During afternoon trade, the major averages lost nearly all of their gains very briefly after a tweet from the AP said that there had been an explosion at the White House and that the President

Index Technicals: The S&P 500 closed above its daily 20 EMA at 1,560.71, with 1,575 resistance above and 1,545 support below

Index Technicals: The S&P 500 closed above its daily 20 EMA at 1,560.71, with 1,575 resistance above and 1,545 support below that.

Next up,

In the report, Divan noted, “ILMN reported a very impressive 1Q 2013 with revenues of $331mn (vs. Credit Suisse $305mn, consensus $311mn)

PowerSecure International (NASDAQ: POWR) shares reached a new 52-week high of $13.25 after the

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) is projected to report its Q1 earnings at $1.40 per share on revenue of $13.72 billion.

Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) is expected to

Today’s tickers: PEP, BYI & ILMN

PEP - PepsiCo, Inc. – Options on global beverage and snack food giant, PepsiCo, Inc., are humming with activity this morning after the company posted first-quarter earnings that handily beat analyst expectations. Overall volume in PEP options is roughly three times the average daily level for the stock as of 11:00 a.m. ET. Shares in the world’s largest snack maker jumped 5.8% in the early going to a record high of $83.45. Fresh interest in upside call options on Pepsi indicates some traders are positioning for shares in the name to extend gains this year. The July $85 strike calls have traded 1,600 times so far today versus open interest of 964 contracts. It looks like traders purchased most of the volume for an average premium of $1.10 each. Looking ahead to October expiration, traders stepped in to buy calls at the $85, $87.5, $90 and $95 strikes. The Oct. $90 strike is most active, with some 1,400 calls changing hands against open interest of just 11 contracts. Call buyers paid an average premium of $0.53 apiece for the $90 calls, and may profit at October expiration in the event that PepsiCo’s shares surge 8.5% over today’s high of $83.45 to surpass the average breakeven price of $90.53.

BYI - Bally Technologies, Inc. – The maker of slot machines and other gaming devices popped up on our ‘hot by options volume’ market scanner this morning due to heavier than usual trading in the May expiry puts. Front month put buyers may be bracing for shares in Bally to pull back following the company’s third-quarter earnings report after the close next Thursday. The stock is down 1.0% at $47.25 this afternoon, after yesterday sinking to the lowest level in one month. May $45 strike puts traded more than 3,400 times during the first half of the trading session against open interest of 125 contracts. Time and sales data indicates most of the puts were purchased for an average premium of $0.95 each. Traders…

The number of shares sold short in Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALXN), Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA), Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN), Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ONXX), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:

The number of shares sold short in Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALXN), Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA), Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), Onyx

The number of shares sold short in Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA), Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) and

Biogen Idec (NASDAQ: BIIB) is expected to report its Q4 earnings at $1.46 per share on revenue of $1.39 billion.

Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) is expected to post

The number of shares sold short in Arena Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ARNA), Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN), Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD), Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ONXX)

Industrial machine maker Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) will report earnings Monday. Analysts expect

Vivus CEO Reportedly Says Acquisition is 'Inevitable'

CEO Comments:Vivus (NASDAQ: VVUS) CEO Leland Wilson, talking to Deal Reporter at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, said partnership talks have been

Roche Chairman Says No Longer Bidding for Illumina

Chairman Comments:Shares of Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) fell in the pre-market and never fully recovered, following comments by Roche (OTC: RHHBY) Chairman Franz

It was a quiet day with light trading volume and no major economic releases. After kicking off the New Year with a significant rally in the wake of an agreement to avert the fiscal cliff, investors were

Top Headline The banks were handed some good news Monday as international regulators agreed to hold off on the new Basel III

Citigroup commented, "We expect the stock to be under pressure today as investors question the deal valuation/near-term $0.20 EPS dilution of the Verinata deal, the longer term impact of ILMN competing with its own customers (i.e.,

Top Headline The banks were handed some good news Monday as international regulators agreed to hold off on the new Basel III

Wedbush noted, "We have spoken with several typical sequencing customers recently that are either putting off or second guessing HiSeq purchases because of the attractive price point of

Piper Jaffray upgraded Illumina (NASDAQ: ILMN) from “neutral” to “overweight.” Illumina's shares

Today’s tickers: HLF, ILMN & WSM

HLF - Herbalife, Ltd. – Options on Herbalife continue to change hands at a clip on Thursday, one day after Pershing Square Capital Management founder, Bill Ackman, announced a short position in the stock that sent shares in the marketer of weight management products down as much as 15% during trading on Wednesday. The stock extended losses today, sliding 8% in the early going to $34.33, the lowest level since February 2011. Upwards of 71,000 put and call options have changed hands on Herbalife as of 12:55 p.m. ET, with around 1.5 puts changing hands on the stock for each single call option in play. Some traders appear to be positioning for shares in the name to hit lower lows by the end of this week, while others establish contrarian bets on the name that benefit from a pop in the price of the underlying during the next 24 hours. Bears anticipating a sharp drop in shares of Herbalife in the very near term appear to be buying out-of-the-money puts across several strike prices in the December expiry. Meanwhile, call buying at the Dec. $35, $37.5 and $40 strikes looks for the stock to rebound substantially by expiration.

ILMN - Illumina, Inc. – Shares in biotechnology company, Illumina, Inc., jumped 9.25% this morning to a new 52-week high of $57.00 on unconfirmed reports that Swiss drug maker, Roche Holding AG, may be in talks to purchase Illumina at a substantially sweetened price of $66.00 a share or $8.1 billion. San Diego, California-based Illumina’s shares have rallied more than 80% since the start of the year on speculation the provider of DNA sequencing technology may be acquired. Options volume on Illumina is up sharply on the session, with some 14,000 contracts in play on the stock as of midday in New York, versus average daily options volume of around 2,200 lots. A number of strategists appear to be buying upside calls on the takeover chatter, snapping up in- and out-of-the-money calls in the December and January expiries. The Dec. $55 and…

BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ: BMRN) in