Volume Spike Investor

VMware Inc. (NYSE: VMW) is being beaten like a rented mule in pre-market trading this morning.  The virtualization company announced that Diane Greene is out as CEO effective immediately, and its guidance is being taken as an earnings warning.  Shares are paying a dear price this morning.  at 9:26 AM EST we have seen 867,000 shares trade hands… down 22% at $41.22.  Interestingly enough, this will challenge its post-IPO lows (52-week lows too) as the range has been $41.41 to $125.25.  It’s going to be a cold day at the virtualization leader.

The average daily volume is 1.9 million shares, and we’d expect this to be among the more active for stocks and options this morning.  Watch EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) for any spill-over as it still owns the majority stake of VMware.

Jon Ogg

July 8, 2008