Buzz Stocks: Comcast, Markwest Energy, and Anacor

Today's stocks to watch in the news include Comcast Corporation (CMCSA), Markwest Energy Partners (MWE), and Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc (ANAC)

Jul 13, 2015 at 10:11 AM

U.S. stocks are off to a healthy start, thanks to news of a three-year bailout agreement between Greece and eurozone leaders. In company news, today's stocks to watch include entertainment giant Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA), natural gas concern Markwest Energy Partners LP (NYSE:MWE), and biotech Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ANAC).

After recently telling Donald Trump he was fired, Comcast Corporation is back in the news thanks to a new streaming service and a bunch of little yellow guys. This past weekend, CMCSA announced that it is testing a new cable streaming service called "Stream." The new service will broadcast live TV from all of the major broadcasting networks including HBO -- offering thousands of on-demand movies and shows. The service will run $15 a month for CMCSA's Xfinity customers. And now for "Minions." CMCSA's Universal Studios latest movie notched a $115.2 million opening in North America this past weekend. This impressive performance falls just short of the $121.6 million logged by "Shrek the Third" in 2007. Thanks to this combination of news, the stock is up 1.1% at $63.91, and earlier touched an all-time high of $64.13. Despite steadily chugging higher along the support of its 10- and 20-month moving averages, the options pits are full of bears. CMCSA's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.24 is higher than 99% of the past year's worth of readings.

Marathon Petroleum Corp's (NYSE:MPC) master limited partnership (MLP) MPLX LP (NYSE:MPLX) announced that it will purchase Markwest Energy Partners LP for more than $15 billion. The market value of the MLP will be $21 billion and will add natural gas processing to MPLX's crude capabilities. MWE has gapped 9.8% higher to $65.65 on the news.

Finally, Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc has jumped 46.5% to $123.93, and earlier notched a record peak of $127.19, after announcing positive data from it Crisaborole skin ointment. ANAC's chart is impressive, as the stock has skyrocketed more than sevenfold in the past year. Today' news could spark a nice short-covering rally, as more than 11% of the equity's float is sold short. It would take more than eight days to cover these bearish bets, and this morning's news is the kind that could send the naysayers scrambling.

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