Early Edge: Angie's List, Smith & Wesson, and Pfizer Inc.

The broad-market indexes are notably higher this morning, as traders react to the latest round of big-cap earnings and news from overseas. Among the equities making an early splash on the Street are online review issue Angie's List Inc (NASDAQ:ANGI), gun guru Smith & Wesson Holding Corp (NASDAQ:SWHC), and pharmaceutical firm Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE).

• ANGI shot higher out of the gate, and was last seen up 10% at $6.18, after the firm upped its adjusted full-year earnings guidance and said CEO William Oesterle plans to step down. In early action, ANGI calls are trading at three times the average intraday clip, and more than quadrupling puts, marking a change of pace for the equity. On the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.37 stands higher than 87% of all other readings from the past year, hinting at a healthier-than-usual appetite for long puts over calls of late. Prior to today, Angie's List Inc was down more than 50% year-over-year, but is now on pace to end atop its 10-day and 20-day moving averages for the first time since late March.


• SWHC also bolted higher, up 12.9% at $14.68, after the company raised its own current-quarter and full-year guidance. Against this backdrop, SWHC calls are crossing the tape at 12 times the normal morning clip, with buy-to-open action detected at the May 15 call. By purchasing the calls to open, the buyers expect Smith & Wesson Holding Corp to surmount $15 by the close on Friday, May 15, when the soon-to-be front-month options expire. Even before today, SWHC calls were the options of choice, as the stock's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 13.60 ranks in the 95th percentile of its annual range. Elsewhere, short sellers could be feeling the heat, as short interest represents nearly 12 sessions' worth of pent-up buying demand, at SWHC's average pace of trading.


• PFE is flirting with a 1.1% lead at $35.40, after the firm's late-stage combination study of Ibrance -- its breast cancer treatment -- met its primary endpoint (subscription required). PFE calls are trading at seven times the rate of puts, with potential buy-to-open action at the June 34 call -- among the most popular thus far. During the past two weeks, Pfizer Inc. calls have been gaining traction, as the security's 10-day ISE/CBOE/PHLX call/put volume ratio of 6.20 stands higher than 87% of all other readings from the past 12 months. Thanks to today's surge, PFE is on the cusp of a new decade-plus high, after peaking at $35.53 on Monday.