We noticed a surge of call buying in EMC (EMC, news, chart) this morning. (See 11:30 comment). The action continues. Now, volume is running four times the usual, with 270,000 EMC call options trading on the day. Put volume has topped 70,000 contracts. Reuters is now out with a story citing takeover chatter for today’s share price gain. EMC is up 69 cents to $14.72 and, according to Reuters:

EMC shares rise on speculation it may be acquired

BOSTON, July 30 (Reuters) – EMC Corp shares rose as much as 6.3 percent on Wednesday on market speculation that the world’s largest maker of corporate storage equipment could be bought.
EMC spokesman Dave Farmer declined comment, saying the company never responds to market rumors or speculation.
Jefferies & Co analyst Bill Choi said the speculation surfaced late Wednesday morning, but that he did not know what caused it to emerge.
“I am not sure I know anything that supports this rumor. It comes back now and then. The last time it was in full force was in May,” Choi said.

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