After Microsoft (MSFT: sentiment, chart, options) pulled its $33-per-share bid for Yahoo! (YHOO: sentiment, chart, options) , shares of the latter company were hammered in early-morning trading. The stock is now trading at a 16% deficit, or a $4.63 loss, hovering near the 24 level. The equity is attempting to hold onto support from its 80-month moving average, trading in a range not seen since late January.

Meanwhile, options players are having a field day. The stock's May 22.50 put (YHQ QX) has seen volume of more than 45,000 contracts cross the tape on open interest of fewer than 82,000. Elsewhere, the May 20 put (YHQ QD) has seen more than 19,000 contracts cross the tape on open interest of roughly 107,000, while the May 25 put (YHQ QE) has seen approximately 17,500 contracts trade on open interest of nearly 228,000.

Calls are also quite popular this morning. YHOO's May 27.50 call (YHQ EY) has seen almost 78,000 contracts cross the tape on open interest of roughly 156,000, while its May 30 call (YHQ EF) has seen almost 65,000 contracts cross the tape on open interest of approximately 306,000. The May 25 call (YHQ EE) is not to be ignored, with about 48,000 contracts crossing on open interest of fewer than 26,000.

Over the past couple of weeks, as the merger-and-acquisition saga unfolded, near-term options players became increasingly skeptical of YHOO. The stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio rose from 0.56 (in the 67th annual percentile) on April 23, to its most recent reading of 0.69 (in the 96th annual percentile). In other words, near-term options speculators have been more bearishly aligned toward the equity only 4% of the time during the past 52 weeks.