Buzz Stocks: Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Transocean LTD, and Monsanto Company

Today's stocks to watch include Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (ANF), Transocean LTD (RIG), and Monsanto Company (MON)

Mar 2, 2016 at 9:26 AM

U.S. stocks are pointed slightly lower this morning, following a slide in crude futures. Among equities in focus are retail concern Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (NYSE:ANF), oil-and-gas stock Transocean LTD (NYSE:RIG), and agricultural interest Monsanto Company (NYSE:MON).

ANF is set to pop 8% at the open -- on track to tap a new annual high -- adding to its already 8.7% year-to-date lead after closing at $29.34 on Tuesday. The company reported fourth-quarter earnings above expectations, and could be due for some bullish attention. Thirteen of the 19 brokerages providing coverage call Abercrombie & Fitch Co. a "hold" or worse. Option traders have been rather pessimistic, as well. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), ANF has a 50-day put/call volume ratio of 1.98 -- in the 93rd percentile of its annual range.

RIG is looking into M&A possibilities, according to Chief Financial Officer Mark Mey. "We want to be the leaders in M&A," he told a conference in Oslo. "We are actively out there looking." The stock is pointed 2.1% lower ahead of the open. A positive analyst note helped Transocean LTD to a modest gain on Tuesday, when the shares settled at $9.07, but the equity is still down nearly 27% in 2016. Still, option traders seem to have picked up an appetite for bullish bets. The security's 10-day call/put volume ratio at the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX ranks higher than 84% of readings from the past year, at 0.74.

MON is headed 4.8% lower from its Tuesday close of $92.49, after the company cut its profit outlook for 2016. Monsanto Company has struggled for momentum on the charts in recent months, frequently running into resistance in the form of the shares' decreasing 160-day moving average. And a recent crop of option bulls could be shaking in their boots today. At the ISE, CBOE, and PHLX, the stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 2.30 is in the 96th percentile of its 52-week range. In other news, MON is set to present at the BofA-Merrill Lynch Global Agriculture and Chemicals Conference this afternoon.

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