It seems that someone at Take-Two Interactive Software (TTWO: sentiment, chart, options) was paying attention to speculation on Grand Theft Auto IV sales. Bright and early this morning, the company reported that it has sold about 6 million GTA units worldwide in just the first week. The estimated retail value stands at more than $500 million. Some analysts are expecting the game to sell more than 10 million units this year, and TTWO appears comfortably on pace to hit that target. For first-week sales, the consensus estimate was for sales of about 5 million copies.

TTWO shares are edging higher in electronic trading, but it remains to be seen if 6 million units' worth of sales constitutes the "fantastic numbers" the company needs to help stave off the hostile takeover bid from Electronic Arts (ERTS: sentiment, chart, options) . Investor expectations are extremely high for TTWO, as the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.56 ranks below 98% of all those taken during the past year - indicating that options players have been more bullish only 2% of the time in the prior 52 weeks. This excessive bullishness could be a sign that the current sales numbers are not fantastic enough.