New York Times Stock, Options Surge on Takeover Talk

New York Times Co. was the biggest gainer in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and bullish options trading surged to a six-month high on renewed speculation the newspaper publisher may be acquired.

Almost 7,200 calls to buy the stock changed hands, 40 times the four-week average and six times the number of puts to sell. The most-active contracts were October $9 calls, which almost doubled to 35 cents and accounted for about two-thirds of call volume. Before today they had an open interest of five outstanding contracts.