McDonald's Shares Just Spiked

Shares of McDonald's have spiked in afternoon trade.

Shares of the fast food giant were up as much as 2.5% in afternoon trade, but quickly surged those highs within the last half hour, an unusual move for a company so large and stock that is so liquid.

Some on Twitter are speculating that activist investor Carl Icahn has taken a stake in the company, but this is isolated and completely unconfirmed.

On Twitter, Mike Bergen at Bergen Capital tweeted the cryptic:

Meanwhile Eric Hunsader of Nanex, LLC has also noted Monday's action in McDonald's, writing on Twitter that only 20% of volume in the stock today has taken place on "lit" exchanges with 80% of trades taking place in dark pools.

Back in August, Whole Foods shares gained after wild speculation that Icahn was taking a stake in the company, but over the last couple months nothing has come of that.

Here's a chart of Monday's action in McDonald's shares.