A joint announcement by Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) and Google Inc. (NYSE: GOOG) scheduled for 1:30 p.m. PDT today, after market close, has rumor-mongers wondering whether the two will be announcing a big deal. Yahoo! has been on the block for so long that even the slightest breeze of news has everyone guessing; this morning, Doug McIntyre wrote that short interest was increasing as pessimists pooh-poohed Carl Icahn's plans.

Michael Arrington at TechCrunch says his sources are insisting it's only a search partnership, a deal that would probably have far less impact on the fate of Yahoo! -- it may signal more things to come, but let's recall that a "global advertising partnership" deal between Google and Time Warner, Inc. (NYSE: TWX)'s AOL in December 2005, in which Google purchased 5% of the internet company, never (yet) materialized into the acquisition many expected.

No major news outlet has the story yet, and there is no announcement on Yahoo!'s investor relations page. After falling 80 cents today, the stock was rebounding quickly on the rumors, at $25.97 at 2:10 p.m.

Update 6:21 p.m.: Microsoft has pulled its $33 per share offer for Yahoo!, and Yahoo! has announced a search advertising partnership with Google. Yahoo!'s stock ended the day down $3.34, or 12.77%, at $22.81.

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) volatility Elevated as AAPL near record high into expected announcement during today's event.

AAPL is recently up $0.89 to $145. AAPL will be making an announcement today and speculation has recently focused on AAPL launching a new family of iPods. AAPL September option implied volatility is at 48; October is at 46; above its 26-week average of 41 according to Track Data, suggesting slightly larger price movement.

Boeing (NYSE: BA) October volatility of 29 above 26-week average of 25.

BA is recently down $0.44 to $95.55. BA announced on a conference call this morning the 787 Dreamliner's first flight will be in mid-November to mid-December. BA still sees the first 787 delivery in May of 2008. BA will be speaking at a Morgan Stanley Industrial Conference on 9/11. BA September option implied volatility is at 26; October is at 29; January is at 27 above its 26-week average of 25 according to Track Data, suggesting larger risk.

Altria Group (NYSE: MO) implied volatility of 18 below 26-week average of 20.

MO is down $1.27 to $68.40. Goldman downgraded MO to Neutral from Buy and lowered its 12-month price target to $76 from $79. Goldman Sachs says, "the stock now looks only modestly undervalued relative to our sum-of-the-parts price target." MO call option volume of 35,636 contracts compares to put volume of 10,784 contracts. MO September & October option implied volatility of 18 is below its 26-week average of 20 according to Track Data, suggesting slightly lower price movement.

Daily options Update is provided by Stock Specialist Paul Foster of theflyonthewall.com.

Goodbye Peter Wuffli, Hello Marcel Rohner.

Late yesterday came word from UBS AG (NYSE: UBS) that Peter Wuffli would leave the bank following several consecutive quarters of disappointing results. The company said that instead of looking outside for a replacement, Deputy CEO Marcel Rohner would step into Wuffli's role immediately and try to help the bank revive its fortunes. The company's stock has underperformed for a number of months following setbacks that include subprime mortgage woes and lagging revenue in its fixed-income unit.

Although somewhat sudden, Wuffli's departure actually looks like it will be a good thing for UBS. Let's be honest here, Wuffli had his share of hardships as CEO. For one thing, in May, UBS closed the Dillon Read Capital Management hedge fund arm because of losses attributed to the U.S. subprime mortgage market. UBS lost around $124M with Dillon Read and was partially responsible for the company's Q1 profit fall of 7%.

In the other corner is Rohner, who has been a member of the group executive board since 2002 and Deputy CEO since January. His resume also includes overseeing the company's global wealth management unit since 2005, which has been a huge money maker; Rohner's division accounted for nearly 70% of pretax profit from financial businesses last year. In an effort to smooth his transition to CEO, the bank asked Chairman Marcel Ospel to remain on board for at least one more three-year term.

Wuffli's departure, which management claims wasn't due to "any disagreement over strategy," has caused concern over the company's Q2 earnings, which the company will report in August. Eager to ease concerns, the company said a new CEO doesn't necessarily mean Q2 earnings will be disappointing. Analysts, however, believe that a strategic review of certain operations could be next; since Rohner is from the wealth-management side of the business. Derek de Vries, an analyst at Merrill Lynch, believes that sector will be unaffected by any review. He added that the investment banking side would be a likely choice for review.

While Wuffli previously dismissed talk that the bank could be broken up, with new management in place, and potential scrutiny of its investment banking strategy on the way, that may mean changes. Analysts remain confident for the moment that a break up would be a "far-fetched scenario."