Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), the world’s biggest maker of networking gear and the focus of a recent “Buy, Sell or Hold” feature in Money Morning, is not in any deal talks with any big companies, and apparently won’t be a bidder for data storage giant EMC Corp. (EMC), Cisco Chief Executive John T. Chambers told CNBC in an interview late yesterday (Wednesday).

Takeover Trader editor Louis Basenese has found a stock market indicator that he says is as close to a sure thing as you can get.

Heavy volumes of options trading - particularly when biased to one side - gives a clear signal that a stock is about to make a big movement.

And Louis says Friday’s huge trade in short-term call options for EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) suggests its share price is about to rally big time. Louis says it’s time to long on this stock now…

In the world of investing, sometimes the separate parts are worth more than the whole. Those parts are called “corporate spin-offs,” and as far as investment plays go, they can be one of the safest and most-profitable hands that investors can play - especially against a market backdrop as uncertain as the one we face now.